Treasured Resonance
by littlmiget123
Summary: Full summary on my profile. When Prof. Elm asks Lyra, a young girl from New Bark Town, to get a mysterious Pokémon Egg from a friend, Lyra's Pokémon Journey accidently starts when a Pokémon is stolen from him!
1. Late!

_Welcome, guys, to Treasured Renosance, my second Pokémon fanfic. I really wish for this one to be much better than VKS. By the way, hello! My name is Alex, for you first time readers, and I really hope that you enjoy my story. Johto is my favorite region, and Lyra is really funny in the anime, so I decided to make a Trainer story of my own._

_If you're a veteran from VKS, I will be doing Bonus Chapters in this as well, since I really enjoy them. If you're new to my stories, Bonus Chapters are side story one-shots inside the story. Now, enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon, including Lyra, Ethan, or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

_Almost there,_ Silver thought as he walked over the rickety wooden bridge on Route 27, the Route that connected the Kanto region and Johto region. _It's been a long walk from Viridian City, but it was worth it. _And luckily, he managed to get by without being noticed as well. The commotion of everyone leaving the Indigo League gave him marvelous cover. But he did stick out a little, having long red hair that reached his shoulders. However, his dark blue, almost black button up shirt that had red on the rims of the buttons, the pockets, and at the end of his sleeves, plus his indigo jeans helped him blend in with the crowd, and also to safely cross the boarder of Johto.

_No one knows who I am, and I want to keep it that way,_ he thought to himself. Next to him, a medium sized orange fish-like Pokémon jumped out of the water and splashed, causing Silver to jump into the air and pull out a red and white sphere, pressing the button in the middle to make it bigger. "Stupid Magikarp." he mumbled to himself, and putting the Poké Ball away. He sighed and looked up at the bright moon in the sky. "I'll be in New Bark Town by sun up. And when I get to Johto, you better look out, Team Rocket."

o 0 o

In a medium size house near the waters of Route 27, a woman about the age of 35 was quietly humming to herself as she did the dishes from the previous night. She silently hummed a song that she heard on the radio that morning when her alarm came off, a cute little song called _If We Ever Meet Again_ as she waited for her daughter's Marill to finish filling up the sink with its Water Gun. She looked at the light blue Aqua Mouse Pokémon as it finished shooting water from its mouth, the sink all filled up. "Thank you Marill," she said to the Pokémon, smiling sweetly as she took out an old sponge and put dish soap on it after dipping it in the water. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded back, then looked up at the clock on the wall.

Marill jumped off the counter after seeing the time and waddled over to the wooden stairs on the other side of the one room first floor. She started jumping up the stairs, trying to go as fast as she could, so her Trainer would not be late for her appointment. As the stairs curved, Marill stopped for a breather, then continued, finally reaching the top and trotting over to the room on the right. Quickly, the Pokémon pushed open the door and ran over to the bed on the other side, where a girl with brown hair snored silently underneath a heap of pink striped blankets. Marill jumped up at shook its Trainer. "Marill, Mair!" it said to the girl, but all she did was stir in her sleep.

_Lyra stood on the large battlefield, looking around at the emptiness in confusion. The stands __were all empty, and it was night out, the stars and the moon illuminating the battlefield. "Where am I?" she asked herself. Suddenly, she heard the large double wooden doors on the other side of the stadium creak, and a caped man walked out onto the stadium, and Lyra recognized him immediately. "Oh my god, it's Fabu-Lance!" she squealed, lifting one leg up into the air._

_"You have made it far in your journey, Lyra," he said, his maroon hair blowing in the night's breeze. "Now, it's time for us to battle." Lyra scrunched her eyebrows together._

_"Journey?" she asked. "Wait, _battle?"_ She thought for a moment and shrugged. "Sure, why not, I _never_ put down a challenge." The man nodded and took out a red and white device, a Poké Ball, and tossed it into the air. The ball spun for a moment, then burst opened and released a flash of bright light onto the stadium. The light then condensed together and formed a yellow dragon-like Pokémon with small wings on its back. _

_"Aaarooo!" it called out, and Lyra recognized the Pokémon as Lance's Dragonite, his best Pokémon. _

_"Wait, that's cheating; you can't use that Pokémon! I only have one!" Lance stared at Lyra unknowingly, as if he were waiting for her to choose her Pokémon, which he was. "Well, here goes nothing," She looked down at her feet and saw her Marill wasn't there, for once. Quickly, Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball from the pocket in her dark blue overalls and tossed it. The Poké Ball sailed through the air and instead of bursting open like Lance's, it simply opened and landed on the floor, empty. Lance grumbled._

_"Do you think this is a joke?" he asked her. "Choose your Pokémon!" Lyra, however, stared at the Poké Ball with wide eyes, mouth hanging open._

_"That's the only Poké Ball I have on me!" she said, waving her hands in front of her. "Marill, where are you!" Lance stared at Lyra unamused and sighed._

_"If you're not going to send out a Pokémon, I'm afraid I'm going to have to attack _you,_" he said, and started to raise his finger when suddenly, a blast of water appeared and soaked Lyra's face._

Immediately, the brown haired girl shot up, eyes wide and breathing heavy. She looked around at the familiar pink wallpaper she had hanging up in her room, then down at her Marill, water dripping from its mouth. She looked down at her pillow, and the pink pillowcase was soaked with water. _It was just a dream, _she thought, and sighed. "Hey, Marill, you didn't have to Water Gun me in the face, y'know." Marill got a dirty look on its face and started jumping up and down, pointing to the white and pink PokéGear on Lyra's nightstand. Lyra yawned and reached over, grabbing the electronic device and flipping it open, only to see the time, which was 10: 04. "Oh my god, it's 10 o' clock, and I'm still in bed! I need to get to Prof. Elm's lab right now!" Lyra kicked off the pink blankets and ran across her room, picking clothes out of her closet then running outside into the empty hallway and to the bathroom on the other side of her mother's room.

Quickly, she tore off her pink and white nightshirt, which had a yellow flower on the front, and tossed it into the hamper. Then, she ran over to the sink and, after squirting toothpaste on her toothbrush and brushing her pearly white teeth for a good 20 seconds, started tearing at her hair with a dark red brush while simultaneously pulling a red three quarter sleeve shirt and putting on dark blue overalls over them. Finally, she put on long white stockings and pulled them up to her thighs before taking two red hair ties and tying up her brown hair into pigtails that rested on her shoulders. Marill, who was sitting on the toilet, watched its Trainer fumble around as she put on a white cap with a red bow tie on it and ran out of the bathroom. "C'mon Marill!" she shouted, and the Pokémon quickly leaped off the toilet and ran down the stairs with its Trainer.

"Ah, good morning Lyra. Would you like some breakfast?" Lyra's mom asked her, as Lyra ran down the stairs. Lyra quickly grabbed her yellow purse-like bag and strapped her PokéGear to it.

"No thanks, Mom. I promised Prof. Elm I'd be at his lab, and I'm _so_ late," Lyra said, jogging in place as she talked to her mom. Her mom nodded, then pointed to a basket on the round wooden dinner table.

"Then take a Leppa Berry for the road, dear," she suggested. Lyra nodded and grabbed the blue, apple-like fruit before sticking on her red shoes, opening the door and running outside. After shutting the door, she turned around and started running when a small black creature with four red spots on its back crawled out in front of her feet. Lyra yelled out as she tripped over the creature and fell with a thud on the ground, the Leppa Berry falling out of her hand and into some bushes, where a wild Sentret picked it up and ran away with it.

"Hey, you dirty breakfast-snatcher!" she called, waving her fist in the air while still on the ground. She looked down to see the thing she tripped over. It was black on the top, and cream colored on the bottom, and its squinty eyes looked up at Lyra's feet in fear and anger. "Cyndaquil?" Suddenly, the Fire Mouse Pokémon jumped and lit the fire on its back, her foot blazing with fire. "Hothothothothot!" Lyra shouted, and Marill jumped in, spraying her foot with Water Gun. "Ah, thanks Marill." Behind her, Lyra heard a pair of feet walk up to her, and she looked up. Looking down at her was a pair of gray eyes, an amused look in them. It was a boy with navy blue hair tucked into a brown and yellow cap pulled backwards. He wore a red zip up sweatshirt, and on his legs, he wore black shorts. When Cyndaquil saw him, it quickly scurried over and hid behind his legs, its whole body shaking like an angry Mankey.

"Hey Lyra. What are you doing on the ground?" he asked. Lyra smiled at him and he held out his hand to help her up. She took it and got up, wiping the dust off her clothes afterwards.

"Thanks, Ethan," Lyra said, smiling at her best friend. "Your Cyndaquil just came out of nowhere and I tripped over it." Ethan laughed.

"Same old Lyra," he said. "I came over here to see where you were. Weren't you suppose to be at Prof. Elm's by now?" Lyra sighed.

"I know, but I overslept," she said, laughing nervously. "But that's where I was heading to right now. Are you coming with?" Ethan shook his head.

"I can't, I'm heading off to Cherrygrove City. I guess the Pokémon Center there is having trouble with the Transfer Machine, so Prof. Elm asked me if I could go fix them," he responded.

"Oh, that's fine," Lyra said, and bent down to pet her friend's Cyndaquil, but it backed away from her hand.

"Hey, Cyndaquil, it was an accident!" Ethan exclaimed to the Pokémon, then looked at Lyra apologetically. "Sorry, it's really timid. My mom dropped a water bottle on it the other day, and it _still_ won't go near her." Lyra shrugged and stood up straight.

"That's alright. Good luck in Cherrygrove City, Ethan," she said, and the boy nodded before turning around and down the path, the Cyndaquil walking with him, occasionally turning its head towards Lyra. Lyra and Ethan had been friends for a really long time, probably since before kindergarten. There were five of them back then, Lyra, Ethan, and then Jimmy, Marina, and Vincent. But then, two years ago, Jimmy, Marina and Vincent started their Pokémon Journeys since they were older then them by a year, and Ethan became her best friend. Below her, Marill poked Lyra's leg, and she looked down. "What am I doing? I need to get to Prof. Elm's lab!" Lyra pulled the strap of her bag up on her shoulder more and started to walk towards the lab north of the town. Lyra knew the way perfectly, since she and Ethan would go there all the time. Ethan was practically the Professor's assistant, only not getting paid for it. "Internship, I guess." Lyra said to herself, and Marill looked at her with confusion, then hopped up on Lyra's arm, a spot it liked to hang from all the time.

Finally, after a couple minutes of walking, Lyra finally reached the large laboratory. It was three stories high, and it was an 'L' shaped building, except for the circular dome sticking out from the roof. Prof. Elm used the first two floors for his lab, and lived on the third floor, so he would never leave his work. "Elm always was a workaholic," Lyra mumbled again. She proceeded to walk up the front steps and to the door when suddenly, Marill's ears twitched twice. _Something must be nearby, Marill has super-sensitive hearing, _Lyra thought. "What do you see, Marill?" she asked her Pokémon, and Marill jumped off her arm, trotting over to the left side of the building and peeking around the corner. Lyra followed her Pokémon and also peeked around, seeing a young boy about 14 with long red hair looking in the window in front of him, and occasionally looking around. "Who is that kid, Marill?" Lyra stepped out of the front of building, walking towards him. "Hi, are you lost? The entrance is this way if you're looking for it." The boy immediately looked at her with angry red eyes that sent chills up Lyra's spine.

"No," the boy replied bluntly, continuing to stare at her. "Now, leave, before I make you." Lyra scoffed.

"What's _your_ problem?" she snapped at him. "I was only trying to help!" The boy took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and started to walk towards Lyra slowly. The way he walked frightened her, and obviously her Marill, too, as the Aqua Mouse Pokémon jumped out in front of its Trainer and fired a Water Gun from its mouth, the water attack hitting the spot in front of the boy's feet. This surprised Lyra, as Marill never attacked another human so fiercely before. The boy stopped in his tracks, then stared at Lyra and Marill before putting his Poké Ball away and running into the woods to the left of them. Lyra stared at the woods for a moment, then turned towards her Marill. "Note to self: watch out for that boy; he seemed like trouble." Lyra and Marill turned around and headed towards the entrance, and Lyra said to herself, "Boy, I really need to stop talking to myself."

* * *

Well, that was the first chapter. How'd you like it? This is a redone chapter of the previous one, which had no detail at all, so I replaced it. Now, if you didn't see it above, my name is Alex. I really like to write about Pokémon, and this is my second Pokémon Fanfic. I hope that you guys stick around to the end of this, and I'm really excited to write more of this story!

Now, I will be accepting Ocs for this story, **but** you must go to my forum and fill out the list there in the special forum topic (if you need help finding it, just PM me and I'll be happy to help you find it). I only accept Oc's by PM's or on the forum, so please don't send them into my story as a review.

Also, if you're a veteran from VKS, you remember how I use to respond to reviews? Well, that takes up too much time, and I'm just going to list my reviewers in a special 'Thank you' section, and if you're anonymous, then I'll reply on the chapter, but it will be short. I highly recommend making an account if you do not.

Finally, if you want to know more info about how the chapter's doing, want to hang out in my forum, or just learn more about me and talk, then check out my profile. I have a special section there called my 'Journal Entries' that I fill out every once in a while to tell the readers how the latest chapter is going. I also put announcements there and stuff, too, so check it often! Okay, that's it from me. Thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	2. Lyra's Mission

_Okay, well, you stuck around for the 2nd chapter, I guess you liked it. Thanks! I hope you won't be disappointed! Like I said before, OCs need to go through my forum, sorry! I heard stories get deleted for accepting OCs in their reviews 0-0. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra, Ethan and any other Pokémon related characters in this fanfic.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Lyra walked in through the front doors to the large light pink and red lab through the large wooden door. "Hello! Prof. Elm?" she called. Inside was a small office area with lots of machines and computers. As usual, Prof. Elm was sitting on the computer off to the left of the lab, typing away. Above him was the window that the boy with the red hair was looking through. _Wow, the boy was looking in just above Prof. Elm and he didn't even notice?_ Lyra thought, and shrugged. _Same old, same old._

"Lyra, is that you?" Elm asked, not looking up from his computer, the light from the screen reflecting off his semi-circular rimmed glasses. Lyra walked forward and nodded.

"Uh, huh. Sorry I'm late, Professor." she explained, her Marill jumping up and holding onto her arm. Marill had always done that for some strange reason. Lyra mostly thought it was because Marill was scared of heights, so she couldn't climb all the way up on Lyra's shoulder. "Where are the Pokémon you wanted me to take out to the yard?" Prof. Elm pointed to a round machine with a orange dome over it; again, not looking away from his computer. Lyra walked up to the machine and pressed the button, opening the orange glass case and revealing two Poké Balls in them. "Have you heard from Dani, Yoshi, or Vincent at all lately, Professor?" Lyra asked, turning around to face the brown haired man, who didn't return the glance.

"The back door is just up the stairs and to the right," he said blankly, obviously not paying attention to her. Lyra huffed and pointed at Elm, her Marill jumping down and firing a small Water Gun at him. The man jumped up in surprise. "Hey, my computers!" he shouted, then looked at Lyra. "Oh, hello Lyra, it's about time you got here!" Lyra fell to the floor and got up quickly.

"Professor, you're going to get robbed if you don't pay attention to your lab. I could have taken these Poké Balls and just walked out." she scolded, showing him the red and white devices in her hands. The Professor blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"I know, but I just get so caught up in my research," he said. "Come on, I'll go with you to let the Pokémon out." Lyra nodded and both of them walked up the stairs in the back of the room to get to the backyard. The yard was more like an acre. Out here was a huge space of land where Professor Elm kept all the Pokémon that other Trainers left to him until they needed them again. There were tons of species of Pokémon out here, millions of Pokémon all together. Once they got outside, Lyra tossed the two Poké Balls.

"Time for some exercise, guys!" Lyra shouted, tossing the Poké Balls into the air. The two balls opened up and released a burst of white light, both forming into different Pokémon. The Pokémon that was released from the Poké Ball in her right hand was a small, light green Pokémon with a large leaf on its head, and a little bud necklace around its neck. The other one was a small light blue Pokémon with a huge jaw filled with little sharp teeth, and it had a cream colored stripe going across its chest, and red spikes and stripes going down its back.

"Chika!" the light green one called.

"Toto, dile!" the other one called, crossing its arms.

"You guys can go play if you want, and I'll call you when lunch is ready, okay?" Chikorita, the light green Pokémon, nodded and ran off to play with a group of Sentret. The light blue Pokémon, Totodile, scoffed and walked off somewhere. Marill jumped off Lyra's arm and walked over with Chikorita and the Sentret.

"So what did you ask me before you ordered your Marill to soak me?" Elm asked, smiling. Lyra laughed nervously.

"I asked you if you had heard from Dani, Yoshi, or Vincent at all," Lyra asked. Professor Elm looked at Lyra as though she had three heads. "Oh, sorry, Marina, Jimmy and Vincent." Professor Elm's face lit up and he nodded.

"Oh, yes I have in fact!" he exclaimed. "Marina called a few days ago, and she had just reached Floaroma Town in the Sinnoh region. She was going to enter the Pokémon Contest there, and was telling me how beautiful it was there." Marina was pretty much a worldwide star, now. Ever since the invention of Pokémon Contests, she had been hooked. Even before the contests, Marina would put on shows when she would battle... so Lyra heard.

You see, Marina went out on her journey to compete in the Pokémon League, and got into the Pokémon League when Pokémon Contests were brought over here from the Hoenn region. Ever since, Marina collected ribbons from the Contests around Johto, and ended up becoming Top Coordinator. She also managed to get a modeling career (it came with the package deal for being famous), so you couldn't go to the local Poké Mart without seeing a magazine with Marina on the front cover modeling the latest Pokétch, or the latest fashion accessory. Nowadays, she was off in the Sinnoh region, competing in Contests there. Lyra had only seen a couple of her friend's Contests on television (something which she should be watching more often), but what she saw was amazing.

"Also, Ethan's told me that Jimmy's at Cianwood City, checking out the newly opened Safari Zone there. I should be getting some of his Pokémon here any day now," Elm said. If you ever saw Jimmy and Ethan side by side, you'd swear they were brothers. Only Ethan had navy blue hair and only a little bit of it stuck out of the front of his backward cap, while a lot of Jimmy's light purple hair stuck out front. They both wore red sweatshirts and shorts, but the shorts were different colors and the sweatshirts were different designers. Most likely the reason they look so much alike is because Jimmy's mom is Ethan's mom's sister; they're cousins. Jimmy and Ethan were very close and kept in touch a lot. Ethan even chose the same starter Pokémon that Jimmy chose, a Cyndaquil.

"And it's been a while since I heard from Vincent, but I'm sure he's out training for another badge _somewhere,_" Prof. Elm explained. Lyra rolled her eyes. That was Vincent for you. Vincent was a very... strange boy in Lyra's opinion... okay, _everyone's_ opinion. He was very loud, and always wanted to be the center of attention. And the way that Vincent acted around Marina, Lyra knew that he liked her. Actually, _everyone_ knew that he liked her. Vincent battled Gym Leaders as well, and even made it to the Silver Conference about two years ago, but lost when he lost against two Trainers named Macey and Ash. It was weird seeing him on T.V., but then that all stopped when he appeared in front of the camera wearing a black cape and saying hi to everyone back home.

Also, I've never explained about Ethan, _or _Lyra! Let's start with Ethan and leave the main character for last. Ethan, as you know, is Jimmy's cousin and Lyra's best friend. So was Marina, Jimmy and Vincent, but Ethan was Lyra's age and they went to the same class together, so they were closer to each other than the others. About a week ago, Ethan had got a Cyndaquil from Prof. Elm, like his cousin. However, Ethan wasn't interested in collecting badges or ribbons. He liked to work with Pokémon, watch how they grow and see them evolve. That's why he spent most of his time at Prof. Elm's, to learn more about Pokémon.

Lyra had no idea what she wanted to do. Contests weren't really... _her._ She didn't mind watching them, but she wouldn't be able to _be_ in one. Plus, she'd rather die than be put in a dress. Gym Battles seemed kinda cool, though. Lyra just wanted to go on a Pokémon Adventure. And Lyra's Marill? Well, that was her first Pokémon. An Azurill to be exact. For her 10th birthday, Ethan gave Lyra a blue egg with white spots on it from his grandparents. His grandmother and grandfather owned a Pokémon Day Care over by Goldenrod City and they always had leftover eggs that Trainers didn't want. One week later, a little Azurill hatched from the egg. Eventually, the Azurill evolved into a Marill.

"So you sent Ethan to Cherrygrove City to fix the machines?" Lyra asked, sneering at Prof. Elm. "Too lazy to do it yourself?" Prof. Elm laughed.

"Nah, he's good with the electronic things, so I sent him. Plus, I needed to be around just in case anyone came to pick up a Pokédex," he replied. Then, Lyra was reminded on the strange boy that tried to attack her.

"Oh, that reminds me-" she said, before getting cut off by a beeping noise. Prof. Elm took out a black PokéGear and started reading the e-mail that was sent to him, his eyebrows raising. "What is it?"

"My friend, Mr. Pokémon, who lives on the outskirts of Cherrygrove City, has just told me he recently discovered a strange Pokémon Egg he has never seen before, and he wants me to examine it." Prof. Elm said. Suddenly, he sighed. "But I'm much too busy here to walk all the way to his house, and Ethan is in Cherrygrove City for the day. What am I going to do?" Lyra smiled brightly.

"I could go for you, Professor!" she exclaimed. Professor Elm looked at Lyra and smiled.

"Well, if you want to." he said. "Chikorita, Totodile, come here please!" Both Pokémon walked up to Lyra and she pointed their Poké Balls at them, a red laser shooting out of the white button in front and sucking them into the balls. She gave the balls to the Professor and looked at him with her eyebrows scrunched.

"Why'd you have me call them back?" she asked. Prof. Elm smiled.

"Well, Mr. Pokémon's house is past Cherrygrove City. It's a long journey for just your Marill. Why don't you take Chikorita or Totodile along with you?" he suggested. Lyra gasped and started jumping up and down with excitement.

"Oh my gosh, you mean it?" she exclaimed. "We get to take a friend along with us, Marill!" The Aqua Mouse Pokémon, who was talking with two Sentrets and a Furret, glanced over and continued talking. "But who to choose; they're both so cute!" Lyra thought for a moment, thinking about both Pokémon. _Totodiles have a habit of biting things, especially things that move._ An image appeared in Lyra's head of her walking down New Bark Town, a Marill on one arm, and a Totodile biting on her hand and hanging there, dragging the two Pokémon along with her. "That would be embarrassing."

"What would?" Prof. Elm asked, looking at her with one eyebrow raised. Lyra laughed nervously.

"Oh, nothing," she replied. "I think I'm going to bring Chikorita along with me." Elm nodded and handed her the Poké Ball containing Chikorita. "I'll get on that mission right away, but I first have to go back to my house and tell my mom where I'm going." Elm chuckled.

"Nah, don't worry about that. I'll tell her for you, you just go get that egg, okay?" Lyra nodded.

"Okay, just don't forget, okay?" Prof. Elm laughed.

"I promise. Now go, I'm excited to see Mr. Pokémon's excitement!" he replied, pushing Lyra through his backdoor. Eventually, she walked by herself and, with Marill on one arm and Chikorita's Poké Ball in the other hand, walked out of Elm's lab and out into the fresh, clear day of New Bark Town.

* * *

I know, I know, short chapter, but the fun is just getting started! Lyra received a Pokémon from Prof. Elm, and now she has two! Has Lyra unwillingly wrote her destiny to become a Pokémon Trainer? Hey! I'm doing the writing! Anyways, I've been thinking about something I can do to get to know you, the readers. Would you guys like an 'Ask a Main Character' section, where you can ask a question to a main character, and they'll answer it? Let me know, please! Again, I am accepting Ocs, but you must visit my forums and click on an obvious topic to see the rules and guidelines. If you need help, ask me!

Another thing I'd like to mention is the title change. Thanks to **Harbringer of Houndoom **for the excellent name! Now, to thank my reviews:

**Dyanasty Artemis**

**DragonforceX**

**Hotrod198**

**Tobiruun**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Creation of Pokerus**

**Nianque**

**melodyhina123**

**LuckyAqua**

**Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**xXLilxXxPandaXx** (gah, hard to write!)

Thanks for reviewing, all of you.

Next chapter, Lyra heads to Cherrygrove City to visit Mr. Pokémon, and she finds a... different person in the fields. Okay guys, that's it. Thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	3. Tuscany's World

_Chapter Number Three right here. Don't forget, Ocs go into the special topic on my forums. Now, other than that, enjoy._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra, Silver, or Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Lyra opened the Poké Ball in front of her, and a white burst of light came out. The light condensed and formed into Chikorita, and it looked around, expecting Prof. Elm. When it saw Lyra, it tilted its head in confusion. "Chika?" it asked.

"Hi Chikorita, how are you?" Lyra asked it. When the Pokémon continued to stare, Lyra sighed. "My name's Lyra, and this is Marill." Lyra pointed to the blue Pokémon hanging off her arm and Marill waved. "Prof. Elm asked me to go somewhere, and he wanted you to go along with me; doesn't that sound like fun?" Chikorita smiled widely and nodded. Lyra and Marill were at the edge of New Bark Town when she got the idea to let her Chikorita walk with them as well. Lyra took out her PokéGear and clicked on the Map Application using the touch screen. "Good thing Prof. Elm gave me the coordinates to Mr. Pokémon's house, otherwise, we probably would have gotten lost." Chikorita looked at Lyra nervously, then started talking to Marill. Marill giggled and nodded, then started talking back. Marill then jumped down off Lyra's arm and the two started talking with each other.

"Talk about feeling left out," Lyra mumbled, and they started walking forward, entering Route 29. This Route was a large, open field where Lyra, Ethan, and all of their other friends used to play at when they were younger. They used to play with some of the wild Pokémon here all the time, so Lyra knew how to get to Cherrygrove City in a heartbeat.

o 0 o

After a while, Lyra stopped in the middle of the field and sat down on the grass to rest. She sat down on a rock that was jutting out of the ground and suddenly her stomach started to grumble. "Man, I should have ate this morning," Lyra said to herself, and opened up her bag to try and find something to eat. Suddenly, her head darted up when she realized that someone was missing. Chikorita walked up and looked at Lyra worriedly. "Chikorita, where's Marill?" Chikorita sadly shook its head and Lyra immediately stood up. "Oh! Darn it, Marill, you need to stop wandering off! Okay, well, we'll have to search for her; she couldn't have gotten too far. Where did you last see Marill, Chikorita?" Chikorita nodded its head and it ran off in the other direction, where they came from. Lyra hurriedly ran after Chikorita, worried about her poor Marill.

o 0 o

Finally, after running for a little while, Chikorita stopped and pointed the large leaf on its head forward. Lyra stopped in front of Chikorita and put her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. "This... is where you last... saw Marill?" Lyra asked the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita nodded. Suddenly, the bushes next to them began to shake and Marill came trotting out, looking scared. "Marill!" it exclaimed, and ran up to Lyra, jumping into her arms. "Thank god, Marill; I thought I lost you! Don't you dare wander off like that again, okay? There are Trainers around here who would probably try to catch you if you're not with me!" Then, as if on cue, a Poké Ball soared through the air past Lyra and Marill and hit Chikorita in the head. The Poké Ball opened up and Chikorita started to glow red, but then the glow faded and the Poké Ball fell to the ground. Lyra gasped and turned around to face the one who had thrown the Poké Ball.

"Hey, it didn't work!" the girl complained. Immediately, Lyra was taken by the girl's beauty. She was very pretty, and looked to be about nineteen years old. She had her blonde hair tied into a ponytail by a large pink bow, and she wore a white shirt that showed a little of her stomach. She also had on purple caprices and wore light pink flip flops, and on her right shoulder was a purple purse with white polka dots on it. After complaining, she looked over at Lyra with cerulean colored eyes and smiled brightly. "Hi! Were you trying to capture this Chikorita?" Lyra looked at the girl, who waved at her really fast and slowly shook her head.

"No, this Chikorita is Prof. Elm's. He let her go with me for a while, though," she replied. The girl looked at Lyra a little bit, then smiled again.

"Cool!" she shouted suddenly, making Lyra jump. "So, you must be from New Bark Town, right?"

"Yeah, actually. I'm running an errand for Prof. Elm right now. Where are you from?" Lyra responded. The girl giggled.

"I don't remember, silly," she said.

"You... don't remember where you're from?" Lyra asked. The girl nodded like she had too much sugar. When she stopped, she started wobbling around. "Do you at least remember your name?"

"Yuppers, my name is Tuscany!" she said, pointing to herself with her thumb. Then she walked up to Lyra and whispered in her ear, "But I'm not suppose to give it out to strangers." Lyra looked strangely at the girl. "What's your name!" She shouted this right next to Lyra's ear, almost blasting out her eardrum.

"My name's Lyra, and this is Marill and Chikorita," Lyra responded, putting her finger in her ringing ear. "But I think you've already met Chikorita." Tuscany started laughing hysterically at Lyra's joke, and then stopped.

"I don't get it." she said bluntly, but shrugged. "So where were you going? You're on a _secret mission_, right?" When Tuscany said 'secret mission', she whispered it.

"It's not really a secret, but I have to go to Mr. Pokémon's house on Route 30 to pick something up from him." Tuscany gasped.

"Hey, I know where his house is!" she exclaimed.

"Really!"

"Yeah, right there!" she shouted, pointing to a bush behind Lyra. When Lyra turned around, there was a Rattata that crawled into a hole and stuck it head out.

"...Tuscany, Mr. Pokémon is a person, not a Rattata," Lyra responded, trying not to lose her patience with the obviously not that bright girl. The girl replied with a smile.

"Then why is his name 'Mr. Pokémon'?" she asked, putting her fingers on her chin. Lyra stared at the girl for a moment.

"Okay Tuscany, it was really nice to meet you, but I have to get to Cherrygrove City before we die of starvation," Lyra said, starting to walk past the bubbly girl.

"Lunch? Is it that time already? I have some sandwiches if you want some?" Tuscany offered. Lyra stopped in her tracks as her stomach started to growl. Tuscany giggled and pulled out a baggie with a bologna sandwich in it. "It's good to share with friends!"

"Thanks so much, Tuscany!" Lyra said, and the two girls walked a little ways west until they found a clearing in the field, with rocks that they could use as chairs. Immediately, Lyra sat down and started eating the sandwich. "So, are you a Pokémon Trainer?" Tuscany looked at Lyra as though she had three heads.

"I've never really thought about it much," Tuscany said, looking at the sky. "I don't collect Gym Badges or anything, just Pokémon," Lyra paused and took out a bowl of Pokémon food for Marill and Chikorita to eat. "What about you?"

"Ah, I'm not really a Trainer yet, I'm just doing an errand for Prof. Elm." Lyra replied, sitting back down again and continued eating.

"Cool. It must be really awesome to know someone so famous, huh?" Lyra shrugged her shoulders.

"It's okay, I guess. I've never really thought about it. He's just really nice to the kids in New Bark Town," she responded, finishing one slice of her sandwich and moving on to the other one. Tuscany was picking at her own, putting the bread in the middle, and the cheese and bologna on top. "So, what type of Pokémon do you collect?" Tuscany's face brightened up right away.

"Tons! I really liked Normal-type Pokémon, because they were so cute and fluffy, but lately, I've really liked Psychic-type Pokémon," she answered, looking very happy.

"Cool, I've never seen a Psychic-type Pokémon before!" Lyra said, smiling. Her smile then turned into a frown. "Wait, if you like Psychic-type Pokémon, why did you try to capture my Chikorita?" Tuscany giggled.

"Because Chikorita's a Psychic-type, silly." Lyra paused eating and stared at the girl in disbelief, then at Chikorita.

"No it's not; Chikorita's a Grass-type Pokémon. The big leaf on its head kinda gives it away." Tuscany stared at Chikorita for about 30 seconds, then started laughing hysterically.

"I never would have guessed!" she shouted, then continued eating. Lyra continued to stare at the blonde.

"Just a random question, Tuscany, but did your Mom ever drop you on the head when you were a baby?" Lyra asked.

"No, not that I recall. But people ask me that all the time, it's soooo weird!" the blonde replied. Lyra looked at Marill, who returned her look of confusion.

"I'm sure they do," she mumbled, then stood up. Quickly, she opened her PokéGear and looked at the time. It was currently 12:15. "Well, I think it's time for me to start going to Cherrygrove City. I have to be back before it gets dark or my Mom will put start putting my picture on the back of milk cartons." Tuscany laughed, then stopped suddenly.

"Why would she do that?" she asked. Lyra stared at her blankly.

"Good-bye, Tuscany," Lyra replied. "C'mon guys, let's move."

"Wait, I have an idea!" Tuscany exclaimed, and Lyra jumped up by the sudden outburst. "I could Teleport you there!" Lyra gasped, then ran up to Tuscany.

"Really! Oh, that would cut our traveling time in half!" Tuscany nodded, then took out a Poké Ball from her purse.

"Okay, here we go!" she shouted, tossing the Poké Ball in the air. The Poké Ball simply opened, then fell to the ground; an empty Poké Ball. "Oopsie, wrong one!" Lyra smacked herself in the face as Tuscany scurried over to grab the empty Poké Ball and took out another, tossing it into the air. This time, the ball opened up and a bright white light came out of it, releasing a yellow and brown Pokémon with a large tail. It had a red star on its forehead, and in one of its three fingered hands, it held a silver spoon.

"Kadabra!" it said, nodding its head politely at Lyra and her Pokémon.

"My Kadabra can Teleport us to Cherrygrove!"

"Thanks so much, Tuscany!" Lyra said, smiling, then turned to Chikorita. "Sorry Chikorita, but you'll have to go into your Poké Ball until we start heading out." The Leaf Pokémon nodded and Lyra recalled it into the ball. "I'm ready!"

"Okay then. Now just reach out and hold onto Kadabra's arm," Tuscany said, putting her hand on her Pokémon's shoulder. The Psi Pokémon held out its limb for Lyra to grab on to, and when Marill jumped on Lyra's arm, she grabbed hold of it. "Now Kadabra, Teleport us to Cherrygrove City, please!" Kadabra nodded and its body started to glow white. Lyra flinched at the bright light, and when she opened her eyes, she was standing in the middle of Cherrygrove City, cutting off 15 minutes of walking. People walking by glanced at them briefly before continuing walking.

"Thanks so much, Tuscany!" Lyra said again, shaking the blonde's hand. Tuscany recalled her Kadabra and nodded.

"No problem, anything for a friend!" Tuscany replied. Lyra looked around at their spot, and noticed the large Pokémon center to their right.

"Awesome. I'm going to head in and say hi to a friend before I head to Mr. Pokémon's house. But thanks again!" Lyra said, walking forward and waving to Tuscany. She walked up to the Pokémon Center's glass automatic doors and suddenly, walked right into them, falling to the ground. "Oof!" she exclaimed as she fell to the ground, landing on her butt. Marill bounced right off Lyra's arms and landed on the ground next to her. Behind her, Lyra heard Tuscany cheer as she saw many people stop and stare at them.

"My turn!" Tuscany shouted, and ran into the door, bouncing off and falling to the ground with a thump. Lyra put her face in her hands as she felt her face turn red with embarrassment. In front of her, Lyra heard the doors open and two sets of footsteps walk out.

"Are you two alright?" a sweet voice said, and Lyra looked up, seeing Nurse Joy looking at them with worry in her blue eyes. Behind her was Ethan, who seemed to be trying really hard to hold back his laughter. When Nurse Joy recognized who they were, she smiled. "Lyra, good to see you! And you as well, Tuscany." Lyra got up and wiped the dirt off her butt before smiling at Nurse Joy. Marill looked at Lyra and huffed, crossing its arms. Tuscany smiled and waved at Nurse Joy, still sitting on the dirt road.

"Good to see you, too, Nurse Joy," Lyra replied. "What happened to the doors?" Ethan raised one of his hands a little.

"That was my fault. I shut off the electricity in the building to fix the Transfer Machines," he answered. His Cyndaquil walked up behind him to stare at the commotion. "Normally, Nurse Joy would have opened the doors for you from the inside, but we just came up from the basement from turning on the electricity. If you had just walked in thirty seconds later, you wouldn't have walked into the door." Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Just my luck..." she mumbled, and Ethan snickered at his friend.

"Well, why don't you two come in. Are you hungry?" Nurse Joy asked, fixing her white Nurse's cap over her pink head of hair. Lyra shook her head.

"No, Tuscany shared her lunch with me," Lyra replied, and walked into the Pokémon Center with Nurse Joy, Ethan, and Tuscany.

"Which reminds me Lyra, what are you doing out here in Cherrygrove City? Decided to go for a walk?" Ethan asked.

"No, Prof. Elm asked me to visit Mr. Pokémon's house. I guess he has something for him," Lyra stated. Ethan's eyebrows raised.

"Mr. Pokémon's house, huh?" Ethan said to himself. "Hey, why don't I go with you! I know the way there anyways. I'm also interested in what good ol' Mr. Pokémon has for the Professor. He usually only calls when he has something important."

"So you're going to go now?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Probably; I want to be back before it gets dark out," Lyra responded.

"In that case, I'm going back to Route 29. I still want to catch a Rattata," Tuscany said.

"A Rattata? I thought you liked Psychic-type Pokémon now?" Lyra asked, facing Tuscany who was about to leave.

"Yeah, I know, but they're so cute and cuddly!" Tuscany answered, hugging herself with her arms. She then walked up to Lyra and whispered in her ear, "And just between you and me, I think that Rattatas are part Psychic-type as well. And _I'll _be the first to discover it." Tuscany then ran outside, waving bye to the gang while Lyra and Ethan stared out the door, then faced each other and shrugged.

* * *

Poor Tuscany, trapped in her own little world. Anyways, it's great to get Chapter 3 out of the way! Don't worry, we'll see more of Tuscany in the future. Tuscany's in the games, anyone notice her? Three cookies of your choosing to whoever gets it right! And no cheating, either! Anyways, not much to say, except I will only accept your OCs if they're by my guide. I know the guide takes a long time, and I'm sorry for that, but I need all the information I can get so I don't have to be rushing to get it at the last moment. Patience is not my virtue. :P Now to thank my reviewers:

Thanks:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**Nianque**

**DragonforceX**

**Mysteryless**

**Panda :)**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

Okay, that's it. The next chapter might come sooner than expected, because I'm out of school now (w00t w00t), and I'll have much more time on my hands. But I'm also planning another story at the same time, so we'll see. Probably not updates every day, though, because those were the days when my grammar wasn't that great. Anyways, next chapter, Lyra and Ethan go to see Mr. Pokémon, and boy, are they in for a shock. You might be, too. This isn't going to be _exactly_ like the games :] Anyways, thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	4. The Mysterious Egg

_Yay! Chapter 4! I bet you guys are so happy that this story is finally moving forward! For the new readers who had to wait a month or something, sorry! Anyways, enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Well, we better get moving," Ethan said to Lyra, and she nodded, then looked over at Nurse Joy.

"Sorry I couldn't stay longer, Nurse Joy," Lyra said to her. They've known Nurse Joy for a while, since Ethan and Lyra would always walk over to see all the Trainers and their Pokémon that stopped in at the Center.

"It's okay, I understand that you have places to be," Nurse Joy replied, smiling as usual. "Thanks for fixing the Transfer Machines for me, Ethan. I owe you one." Ethan gave Nurse Joy a thumbs up and they walked out the door. Lyra's Marill was on her usual spot, hanging on Lyra's arm, and Ethan had his Cyndaquil perched on his shoulder. Route 30 was not far from the Pokémon Center, and according to Ethan, Mr. Pokémon's house was not that far away from Cherrygrove City.

"So how did Nurse Joy know Tuscany back there?" Lyra asked. "I'd never seen her until my encounter with her on Route 29."

"She was in the Pokémon Center when I first got there, and they were talking,"Ethan replied, shaking his head from side to side and putting his hand on his forehead. "I don't know what's wrong with her, though. She seems to be a couple Magnemites short of a Magneton, if you know what I mean." Lyra giggled.

"I know _exactly_ what you mean, especially since she thought that Chikorita was a Psychic-type Pokémon and tried to capture it when it was behind me," she said. Ethan looked at her with his gray eyes.

"Chikorita?" he asked her, and she snapped her fingers.

"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" Lyra exclaimed, taking out a Poké Ball from her yellow bag. "Chikorita, come on out!" The Poké Ball opened in Lyra's hands and out of the flash of light, Chikorita appeared on the ground.

"Chika!" it said happily, and Cyndaquil and Marill jumped down from their posts. Cyndaquil waved and the three Pokémon started walking in front of Lyra and Ethan.

"Prof. Elm let it travel with me for the errand." Ethan stared at Chikorita and his face showed he was deep in thought.

"Did he _give_ it to you? Like, to keep?" Ethan asked. Lyra shrugged.

"Not that I know of. But I've got Marill, so it wouldn't be fair to just _take_ it. Especially since I'm not even going on a Journey; at least not yet anyways."

"Did you _choose_ Chikorita, or did Prof. Elm just hand it to you?"

"Prof. Elm gave me a choice of Chikorita or Totodile to bring with me. Since Totodile like to bite anything that moves, knowing my luck, that'll be me," Lyra explained. Ethan smiled, then chuckled.

"You know, if we battled with me using Cyndaquil and you using Chikorita, I would _so_ own you," he taunted, and chuckled again. Lyra rolled her eyes.

"Chikorita isn't even mine to begin with, so battling with it would be wrong," she replied. "But I'll take you out anytime with my Marill."

"No thanks!" Ethan said quickly, and Lyra laughed. Then, a Caterpie crawled across the tall grass, and Lyra stared at it in interest.

"What Pokémon's that?" she asked.

"A Caterpie. It evolves into Butterfree; you've seen Butterfree at Prof. Elm's, right?" Lyra nodded. "Here, this will clarify," he said, taking out a red Pokédex. It was square, and it had a round black circle on the front, with a blue circle that scanned the Pokémon. Ethan flipped it open and the mechanical device scanned Caterpie instantly. **"Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. Caterpie uses the suction cups on its feet to climb up trees and feed on its favorite leaves."** the mini-computer said in a mechanical male-like voice. Lyra stared at the Pokédex with interest as well.

"Boy, you sure are lucky you work with the Professor, Ethan," she said to him after he put the Pokédex away. "You get all these cool gadgets and devices. Plus, you probably know every Pokémon in the world." Lyra thought for a moment and then gasped. "Hey, what if you identify the Pokémon Egg! That way, we don't have to carry it all the way back there!"

"I probably could, but I don't know _every single_ Pokémon in the world. And if Mr. Pokémon doesn't know what the egg is, it might be hard to figure out. It might even be a Legendary Pokémon egg for all we know," Ethan replied. Finally, after a couple minutes of walking, Lyra and Ethan finally made it to Mr. Pokémon's house. It was a small one story cabin with black shingles on the roof. Smoke was rising out of the chimney, and Lyra could smell the wood burning from outside. To the left of the house was a tree that had many pink fruits called Apricorns. Lyra didn't know much about them, but she knew that if you took them to a special man who lived somewhere in Johto, he could make them into special Poké Balls.

"Wow, special Poké Balls that are made out of fruits..." Lyra said to herself.

"What? Lyra, what are you talking about?" Ethan asked, waving his hand in front of her face. "We're here." Lyra snapped back into reality and both of them walked forward. Ethan walked up to the burgundy painted door and knocked.

"Coming, coming!" a faint voice said on the other side, and the knob turned as a man wearing a brown suit with a white undershirt and a red tie opened the door. "Ah, Ethan! I wasn't expecting you. Prof. Elm wrote that I'd only be expecting one visitor."

"Hello sir. I was working at the Pokémon Center, but I finished when Lyra got to Cherrygrove, so I decided to show her the way." The man nodded and then glanced his tired brown eyes at Lyra and smiled.

"_You_ must be Lyra. Nice to meet you, miss."

"So glad to meet you, too, sir," Lyra said, shaking the man's hand. She then extended her hand to show him her Pokémon. "And this is Marill and Chikorita. Say hi, girls!" Both Pokémon waved at the man, and he smiled back at them.

"Both of you, come on in," he said, moving back and opening his door more so the younger two could step inside. The house was small, but cozy. In what was obviously the living room area immediately when you walked in, there was a brown couch with a glass table in front of it, and on either side were two raggedy chairs. On the right side, there was a stove, a fridge, and some cabinets. There was a section of the house that was closed off, most likely the older man's bedroom. Pushed up against the bedroom walls was a large computer with papers stacked all around it. In the back of the room was a fireplace, with a fire lit inside it. The whole house smelled of a campfire. Both Lyra and Ethan wiped their feet on the multicolored rug sitting in front of the doorway and took off their shoes. Lyra took off her white hat and stuck it on top of her bag that she placed down by the doorway, and Ethan took off his cap, revealing messy navy blue hair. He stuck his cap next to Lyra's. "I've got water boiling on the stove; would you like a cup of tea?"

"Yes, please!" they both said, and sat down on the couch. Lyra examined all the photographs of Mr. Pokémon that were scattered throughout the house. One photo showed Mr. Pokémon standing and shaking hands with the famous Prof. Oak of the Kanto region. Another showed Mr. Pokémon, holding a white Pokémon egg with multiple red and blue triangles of all sizes over it. Mr. Pokémon walked over with the tea kettle and teacups, pouring each of them, and himself, a cup of water and giving them both teabags before putting the boiling water back on the stove. Lyra pulled the tag that tied the string together and dipped it in the water, the clear steaming water immediately starting to turn brown, then black.

"Do you take anything with yours, sweetie?" Mr. Pokémon asked Lyra.

"I'll have a bit of Moo Moo Milk, please," Lyra responded, and the man brought a carton over. Lyra poured in a little tiny bit, just enough to turn the tea a mocha color, then gave it back to Mr. Pokémon. "Thanks very much, sir." Mr Pokémon walked over and sat down on one of the raggedy brown chairs.

"It's not a problem at all! Especially seeing how you traveled all the way here from New Bark Town," he replied. Lyra smiled.

"It was nothing," she said, and took a sip, burning her tongue and spilling some of it on the couch. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" Lyra got up quickly and started wiping it with the sleeve of her shirt. Mr. Pokémon chuckled and got up, grabbing a roll of paper towels and handing them to Lyra, who started pressing them into the couch. Meanwhile, Ethan was trying as hard as he could to hold back his laughter. Finally, after 3 paper towels, the stain was out of the couch. "Whew, what a relief!" Lyra said, sighing. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Pokémon, I didn't mean to!"

"It's fine, dear. Don't worry about it," Mr. Pokémon replied. "I do it all the time, so it's not a big deal."

"But Lyra does it all the time, she could _easily_ go pro," Ethan said, and Lyra punched him in the arm. Mr. Pokémon returned the paper towels to their original spot and took out a small bowl.

"Would you like some chow, little Pokémon?" he asked Marill, Chikorita and Cyndaquil, who all cheered in happiness. Mr. Pokémon chuckled and poured them a bowl of the brown pellets. Finally, he walked over and put the food on the floor for the Pokémon to eat. The old man then sat down finally and took a sip of his tea. Lyra's face was still red from her accident, and Ethan was finishing up his cup.

"So, you have a Pokémon egg that you can't identify?" Lyra said finally. Mr. Pokémon's eyebrows raised as if he forgot, and rushed into his room. After a couple seconds, he came out holding a case, and inside the clear glass, Lyra saw the Pokémon egg. The strange egg was a strange shade of gray, and it had four crimson or light brown spots around it. Lyra had never seen anything like it before. "Wow," was all that she could say as he placed the egg container down on the table.

"I had went outside for my weekly stroll to Violet City yesterday when I saw this lying on the ground," Mr. Pokémon explained. "I've been searching on the internet ever since I found it, but I've found nothing." Ethan examined the egg closely, his fingers tapping his chin.

"Ethan, have any ideas?" Lyra asked, and Ethan twisted his mouth into a corner.

"I remember seeing a Torkoal egg once, and it looks like it to me. But then the spots would be kinda hexagonal. These spots are completely round," Ethan mumbled, and Lyra didn't know if he was talking to her, or to himself. "Well, I'm stumped." Mr. Pokémon frowned.

"You too, huh?" he asked Lyra, and she nodded. His wrinkled face then brightened up again. "Well, I'm sure Prof. Elm will figure it out." Ethan and Lyra stood up, giving Mr. Pokémon his cups. Suddenly, Ethan's PokéGear started to ring. He took out the blue phone-like object and flipped it opened.

"Speaking of Prof. Elm," he said, pressing the talk button. "Hey Professor!"

"Ethan! Oh god, it's horrible! You need to-" Lyra heard Prof. Elm say, sounding like he was in a panic.

"Hi Prof. Elm!" Lyra stated, looking over Ethan's shoulder and waving.

"Lyra? What are you doing there? Where are you two?" Prof. Elm responded, looking at Ethan and Lyra together.

"We're at Mr. Pokémon's house. I finished my work and decided to head over there with Lyra," Ethan explained. "We saw the egg."

"Really? Do you have any idea what species it is? Maybe if you showed me-" Prof. Elm said, starting to ramble, then he stopped suddenly and a worried look spread once again over his face. "Oh, we can't talk about this now! Ethan, Lyra, you both need to get over here now! It's an emergency!"

"What?" Lyra exclaimed.

"What happened, Professor?" Ethan shouted at the screen. Behind Elm, voices started talking and he nodded in their direction.

"No time to explain. Just get over here quickly! And bring Chikorita and Cyndaquil!" Elm said quickly, then added, "Don't forget the egg as well!"

* * *

Hm, what happened? If you've played HeartGold and SoulSilver, then you'll know, lol. But, like I said, this story is kinda going to be different from the game. Notice how chapters are kinda short? That'll start changing, especially when we reach the middle. Also, want to try to guess what kind of Pokémon is in the egg? I have the egg posted on my deviantart, so if anyone wants to give it a shot, they're more than welcome to. Anyways, I'd like to thank my reviewers!

Thank you:

**DragonforceX**

**Nianque**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Creation of Pokerus**

**Mysteryless**

**arkee**

Okay, well, that's it. Next chapter, Lyra and Ethan rush back to Prof. Elm's to see what's up. They better hurry, because someone else is waiting for them too. Thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	5. The Unknown Trainer's Identity

_Yay! This chapter's the big plot twist. Now things will finally get moving! So exciting. Anyways, if you have any suggestions for anything – Bonus Chapters, Characters – please let me know! Enjoy._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The screen on Ethan's PokéGear went black as Prof. Elm hung up, and both Lyra and Ethan stared at each other, their faces pale. "What could have happened that has Prof. Elm so worried?" Lyra asked Ethan, and he shook his head in response.

"Is everything alright?" Mr. Pokémon asked, staring at the two with a confused look on his face.

"We're not sure, sir. But we have to go right away," Ethan said to the man, quickly putting on his hat. "We need to get moving, Cyndaquil." Cyndaquil, who was still eating, looked up and walked over to Ethan. The navy haired boy then took out a Poké Ball and recalled the Fire Mouse Pokémon into the orb. "Sorry Cyndaquil, but we need to get moving." Ethan looked at Lyra after putting the red and white sphere away. "You should recall your Pokémon as well. They'll just hold us up." Lyra looked at Ethan and saw the worry in his gray eyes.

"You're right," she replied, taking out two Poké Balls, one in each hand. "Marill, Chikorita, return." The spheres shot out red lasers from the buttons on the center and hit the Pokémon, enveloping them in red energy and sucking them in. "Mr. Pokémon, thanks for the hospitality; we really appreciate it!" Lyra bowed to Mr. Pokémon and quickly stuck on her cap before sticking on her shoes and running up to the egg to grab it.

"I'll make sure to have Prof. Elm give you a call!" Ethan shouted as they ran out the door and started running down Route 30.

o 0 o

"I hope that Prof. Elm is okay!" Lyra shouted, running along side Ethan and holding the Pokémon egg case in her arms. Secretly, she was hoping to herself that she didn't trip and fall like she usually did. _Otherwise, this egg is going to be squashed like a Bug-type, _Lyra thought as she ran.

"I hope the _Pokémon_ are okay!" Ethan responded and they reached the edges of Cherrygrove City, stopping for a break. Ethan put his hands on his knees and started breathing heavily, and Lyra started taking deep breaths to try and catch it. She glanced at the gray egg in her arms as she did, and nothing seemed to be wrong with it. Finally, they continued, taking off and running past the Pokémon Center without giving it a second glance. When they reached Route 29, they stopped suddenly. In front of them, a battle was going on. One of the Trainers was Tuscany, and she was commanding a brown creature with a long brown and black ringed tail. The other Trainer had long red hair, and he wore a navy blue shirt with indigo jeans. He was commanding a Totodile. "It's Tuscany!" Ethan exclaimed, pointing to her. Lyra looked over at her opponent and gasped. The boy glanced at them with his red eyes and they narrowed when they reached Lyra.

"You..." he mumbled. Tuscany decided to take her opponent's distraction to her advantage.

"Sentret, Fury Swipes now!" she commanded, and Sentret started running at Totodile on its four hands, ready to attack. As soon as Tuscany spoke, the boy's head turned to the battle once again.

"Water Gun now!" he shouted, and the Big Jaw Pokémon opened its mouth, firing a stream of water from its mouth and hitting Sentret, knocking it into the air. The Scout Pokémon landed with a thump on the ground, knocked out. Tuscany gasped and ran up to pick up her Pokémon. Immediately, the boy turned to face Lyra and Ethan.

"I remember you! You're the one who tried to attack me!" Lyra accused, pointing at the Trainer.

"Totodile, Water Gun now!" he said to his Pokémon, ignoring her statement. Totodile jumped in front of the redhead and fired a stream of water from its mouth like before. Ethan and Lyra jumped out of the way before the attack could hit, and Lyra fell to the ground, luckily landing on her back so the egg wouldn't get crushed. Ethan quickly got up and held out a fist.

"What's your problem, buddy? Why'd you just attack us out of nowhere? We're just trying to pass by!" he shouted. "If you've got a problem, then I'll _gladly_ punch you out right here!" The boy glanced at Ethan with a bored expression, then smirked. "What's so funny?"

"Do you honestly think you can beat _me_ up?" he replied. "You've got a better chance of Grumpigs flying."

"Oh yeah, we'll see about that!" Ethan shouted, and charged at the boy with his hands in fists. He swung twice at the redhead, but the boy easily dodged each swing. Ethan grumbled and swung his leg around to kick him. However, the other boy's red eyes flashed and he caught Ethan's leg as it swung. The boy then swung him around and tossed Ethan behind him. Ethan cried out as he hit the ground, but quickly got up and charged at the boy again. This time, the redhead sidestepped and held out his foot as Ethan reached him, and tripped Ethan's feet, the younger boy falling to the ground with a thud. Lyra ran up to Ethan and tried to help him up.

"Ethan, are you alright?" she asked him, and pulled him up with one arm, her other one holding the egg. Lyra glanced her brown eyes over at the Totodile that was standing away from them, and it had its arms crossed across its chest. "Hey, that Totodile is... familiar." Ethan looked at where Lyra was staring, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Isn't that Prof. Elm's Totodile?" he asked, then looked up at the redheaded boy. The boy grunted.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," he replied, and Ethan growled at him.

"I saw this kid outside of Prof. Elm's lab earlier today," Lyra explained to Ethan. "I asked him if he needed help and he tried to attack me. Marill was there to stop him, though. After she fired her Water Gun at him, he ran off into the woods." Lyra thought for a moment. _Maybe he's just shy, and he was going to get a Pokémon from Prof. Elm?_

"I don't know what your problem is, kid, but if I can't beat you, I'll give my Pokémon a shot at it!" Ethan said, running back to make some room. "You might want to move, Lyra." The girl nodded and walked off to help Tuscany.

"Are you alright?" Lyra asked, and Tuscany nodded slightly, still holding her beat-up Sentret.

"He showed no mercy on dear Sentret, and he even knocked it out without his Totodile taking any damage," she replied. "Be careful, little boy! He's strong!" Ethan nodded and took out a Poké Ball.

"Cyndaquil, let's go!" he shouted, tossing the ball. The Poké Ball burst open and released the Fire Mouse Pokémon.

"Cynda!" it said, and when it saw the boy looking at it, it fired up the flame on its back to make itself look tough. The boy across from Ethan smirked and looked at Totodile.

"What are you waiting for? Get out there now," he said to the Pokémon. Totodile jumped up, then trotted out in front of the redhead, crossing its arms again.

"Cyndaquil, Tackle attack that Totodile!" Ethan commanded, and Cyndaquil started charging at the Big Jaw Pokémon.

"Water Gun!" the boy ordered, and Totodile fired a stream of water from its mouth at Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon getting hit with the attack and being knocked back some. Steam rose from its back as the Water Gun put its fire out. "Now, use Scratch attack now!" Totodile extended its fingers and it ran up to Cyndaquil, repeatedly scratching it with both claws.

"Cyndaquil, Smokescreen now!" Ethan shouted, and Cyndaquil jumped back and opened its mouth, firing a thick black smoke from its mouth out onto the field. Totodile tried to jump back, but was eventually caught in the smoke. "Now, Ember!" From inside the smoke, a bright flash of light appeared in the center and multiple quick flashes of light shot through the smoke to the other side. Suddenly, Totodile's voice was heard, and it sounded like it was in pain.

"Shoot your Water Gun at the ground!" the boy commanded. Everything paused for a minute, and then out of the top of the smoke, Totodile came out like a rocket, firing into the air. "Now, fire your Water Gun at where the Ember attack hit you." Totodile stopped its Water Gun and faced a spot in the smoke. It then took a deep breath and fired another stream of water at the spot below hit. After the water hit, Cyndaquil came bouncing out, soaking wet and knocked out. Totodile landed on the ground and grinned at Cyndaquil. It then started walking up to it. "Don't help it. If it can't get up, that's _its_ problem," the boy said. Totodile stopped in its tracks, then nodded, looking sadly at Cyndaquil. Ethan ran up to Cyndaquil and picked it up.

"Cyndaquil, are you hurt?" he asked it, and the Pokémon weakly replied. "You can take a rest in your Poké Ball, now." Ethan recalled the Pokémon, and looked at the boy evilly. "Who are you? Are you a new Trainer?" The boy narrowed his red eyes at Ethan.

"My name is Silver, and I am familiar with Pokémon," he replied. "That's all you're getting from me." Ethan stood up and held out his fists. "I wouldn't try starting round two in the fist fighting, because then I won't be afraid to give you a black eye." Ethan stopped for a moment, then walked up to Lyra.

"C'mon Lyra, we need to get to Prof. Elm's lab anyhow," he said quietly, and Lyra nodded.

"No. You're not going anywhere until we battle," Silver said. Lyra started looking around to see if any other person was around. "I'm talking to you; in the clown outfit." Tuscany stood up after recalling her Sentret and seemed to get all her happiness back.

"That would be meeeeee!" she sang, and started skipping over to where Ethan stood.

"I'm not talking about you, dipshit, I'm talking about the _other _girl," he replied coldly. Tuscany gaped at Silver.

"You said a bad word! I'm telling!" she shouted, and ran off towards Cherrygrove City. Silver ignored her and continued staring at Lyra. The way he was staring really gave her the creeps.

"Why do you want to battle me?" Lyra asked, ignoring the chills going up her spine.

"Totodile needs more experience. And I remember you from New Bark Town," Silver replied. "How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Well, I have two, but I can only really use one because the other one isn't really mine-"

"Then we shall use two Pokémon each." Silver said.

"But I can't use one of them!" Lyra argued. However, the redhead ignored Lyra and turned to face Totodile.

"Go," he said, and Totodile nodded, crossing its arms and looking at Lyra menacingly.

_Oh man, what do I do? I don't even know if it's okay with Prof. Elm to use Chikorita! I should have asked him before I-_

"If you don't choose your Pokémon, then I'll attack you instead." Lyra jumped up as the rude boy knocked her out of her thoughts.

"Okay, okay, jeez," she exclaimed, and handed Ethan the egg container.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked her, and Lyra shrugged.

"I don't really have a choice in the matter," she said, sighing. She walked over to where Ethan stood before. "Okay, since Totodile is a Water-type, it would be appropriate to use a Grass-type... but Chikorita isn't even mine! Oh, what do I do!"

"You've got fifteen seconds before I attack you," Silver said bluntly.

"Well, I'm sure Elm won't mind..." she mumbled, taking out a Poké Ball from her pack and throwing it into the air. "Okay Chikorita, I choose you!" The ball opened up and Chikorita came out of the ball.

"Chika!" it cried, waving the leaf on its head. Silver's eyebrows raised slightly.

"You must be the one that took the Chikorita. When I was looking in the window, I thought I saw two Poké Balls, but when I went inside, there was only one Poké Ball in there containing Totodile," Silver mumbled, but Lyra was able to hear him. "Okay Totodile, go!" This time, it was Lyra who raised her eyebrows.

"You're still choosing Totodile even though I'm using Chikorita, a Grass-type?" she asked. Silver ignored her statement, and instead attacked.

"Totodile, Bite attack now," he said. Totodile nodded and started charging at Chikorita, its sharp white teeth showing.

"Oh! Um, Chikorita... dodge it!" Lyra commanded. Chikorita nodded and jumped into the air, falling on top of Totodile's jaw and bouncing off it. "Oh god, I don't even know any of Chikorita's attacks!"

"Lyra, catch!" Ethan shouted, and tossed her his Pokédex. Lyra, surprised by the toss, juggled the red object around before dropping it on the ground.

"Sorry!" she shouted, then picked it up quickly, wiping the dirt and grass off it.

"Totodile, attack it with Scratch attack!" Silver ordered. Totodile got off the ground and started charging at Chikorita.

"Oh god! Going out on a limb here, but Chikorita, Tackle attack!" Lyra shouted. She let out a deep breath as Chikorita charged and slammed into Totodile's stomach as hard as it could. Quickly, while she had time, she took out Ethan's Pokédex and pointed it at Chikorita. **"Chikorita, the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita uses the leaf on its head to scan for warmth and humidity in its surroundings, and loves to sunbathe." **Lyra growled. "That's nice, but that's not what I'm looking for!" she shouted at the machine.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" Silver commanded, and Totodile fired a spray of water at Chikorita from its mouth.

"Jump to the side and Tackle it!" Lyra shouted, going on her instincts. Chikorita jumped off to the side of the Water Gun like a pro and charged, slamming into Totodile as it continued Water Gun. "Now, I need _attacks_, Pokédex, attacks!" The device in her hand once again kicked back to life. **"Chikorita's attacks are: Number 1: Tackle. Number 2: Razor Leaf. Number 3: PoisonPowder. And Number 4: Growl." **"Excellent!"

"Totodile, use Bite attack now!" Silver ordered, getting angry with the way Lyra was battling him.

"Now the _real _battle begins! Chikorita, Growl attack now!" Lyra commanded, and Chikorita let in a deep breath. Suddenly, it let out a huge cry that distorted the air around it, and Totodile stopped in its tracks, holding the side of its head, where Lyra thought was most likely Totodile's ears. "Awesome, now use Razor Leaf attack!" The Leaf Pokémon jumped into the air and swung the leaf on its head, firing multiple light green leaves from it at Totodile. The Big Jaw Pokémon was sliced by the attack and fell to the ground, fainted. "Oh yeah! Awesome job, Chikorita!" Chikorita landed in front of Lyra and smiled at the brown haired Trainer. Meanwhile, Silver stared at them in disbelief.

"We need to work on your weaknesses, you wimpy Pokémon," Silver said, recalling Totodile into its Poké Ball.

"What did you say?" Ethan shouted at Silver. However, Silver ignored him and took out another Poké Ball.

"Nidoran, go," he said, throwing the Poké Ball lightly onto the field. The ball burst open, and a light purple hamster-like Pokémon came out it. The Pokémon sniffed the air, its long ears twitching at every sound. The Pokémon looked at Chikorita with the same angry red eyes as its Trainer. Its facial expression was almost the same as its Trainer's as well, except for the huge horn on its forehead and its long front teeth.

"A Nidoran?" Ethan asked himself, and stared at the Pokémon in confusion. "Those aren't from around here." Lyra, who had never seen that Pokémon in her life, pointed the Pokédex at Nidoran. **"Nidoran Male, the Poison Pin Pokémon. Its horn is larger than the females, and its Horn Attack is quite powerful."**

"That doesn't exactly tell me much," Lyra mumbled, and tossed the Pokédex back to its owner before turning to face the battlefield. "Okay Chikorita, time for battle!" Silver smirked and looked at his Nidoran.

"This will be a piece of cake, but don't mess this up," he stated, and the Poison Pin Pokémon nodded without looking at its Trainer.

"A piece of cake? I'll show you, Mr. 'I'm-too-tough-for-you'! Chikorita, Poison it with PoisonPowder now!" Chikorita nodded and the large leaf on its head lifted and pointed upwards. It then started waving the leaf back and forth, and a purple powder came out of it and started drifting over to Nidoran. Silver smirked and crossed his arms as the powder enveloped his Pokémon. Nidoran did nothing, not even flinching as the powder reached it.

"Nidoran, Peck attack now," Silver ordered, and Nidoran charged through the powder at Chikorita. When it reached Chikorita, it lowered its head and brought it up under its body, hitting the Leaf Pokémon with its horn. Chikorita flew into the air after getting hit by the horn.

"Chikorita!" Lyra called with concern. Chikorita responded and flipped around in the air, glaring at Nidoran. "Okay, good! Use Razor Leaf now!" At her command, Chikorita swung its head and multiple razor sharp leaves came out of the leaf on its head, heading towards Nidoran at a fast speed.

"Poison Sting now!" Silver commanded. The Poison Pin Pokémon instantly opened its mouth and fired multiple purple darts from its mouth. The darts shot right through the Razor Leaf attack, the leaves fluttering harmlessly to the ground with lots of small holes in them, and continued towards Chikorita, hitting it. Chikorita called out in pain and landed on the ground.

"Hurry Chikorita, get up!" Lyra said to her Pokémon.

"Finish it off with Poison Jab," Silver stated, and his Nidoran's horn started to glow purple on his command. Then, it started running towards Chikorita at full speed and stabbed its horn right into its chest just as it was getting up. Chikorita flew threw the air once again, this time landing in Lyra's arms.

"Oh, are you okay, Chikorita?" Lyra asked the Pokémon, cradling it in her arms. The Pokémon uttered a small response, since it was knocked out. Lyra took out the Pokémon's Poké Ball. "You can have a good rest now; return." After Chikorita was sucked into its Poké Ball, Lyra replaced its Poké Ball with another. "Why didn't PoisonPowder work?"

"Because, stupid girl, Nidoran is a Poison-type Pokémon. Poison-types are not affected by PoisonPowder," Silver responded harshly. "Now, select your next Pokémon." He looked down at his Nidoran. "Your Poison Jab has improved, but that Chikorita should have flew twice as far. Hit harder next time, or I'll show you _personally _how far it should go, using you as the dummy." Nidoran nodded and crouched down, ready for battle.

"How dare you say that to that poor Pokémon!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should be ashamed. Nidoran should be praised for beating Chikorita!" Ethan added, and Silver scoffed in response.

"_Praised?_ Why? I've seen a Goldeen on land battle better than this little thing," Silver said, smirking and looking at Nidoran. "Select your Pokémon now, little girl."

"This is for Chikorita! Go Marill!" Lyra shouted, tossing the Poké Ball onto the field and releasing the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. When the Pokémon came out of the ball, Silver smirked.

"Ah, the Marill. I remember you, little rat," he said to it, and Marill puffed up its body, looking angrily at Silver.

"Hey! Don't talk to my Marill that way! I don't know who you think you are, but you're going down!" Lyra said, a fire appearing in her eyes as she stomped her foot on the ground. "Marill, Water Gun now!" Marill jumped into the air at its Trainer's command and fired a stream of water from its mouth at Nidoran.

"Dodge it, then use Poison Sting!" Silver ordered. Nidoran ran out of the way of Marill's Water Gun and opened its mouth to fire Poison Sting.

"Quick Marill, Tail Whip!" Immediately, Marill grabbed its tail and started swinging it like a ball-and-chain. It then swung it, slamming the ball at the end of its tail against Nidoran's side. Nidoran called out and fired Poison Sting into the air, hitting a Pidgey that was flying in the air above the battle. Nidoran was sent flying to the left and rolled on the ground, but got back up in little time.

"Nidoran, Double Kick attack now!" Silver commanded, and Nidoran jumped into the air. It flipped around twice and shot towards Marill with one of its back feet extended.

"Marill, Defense Curl!" Lyra responded. Marill nodded and curled itself into a ball, wrapping its tail around its body as well. When Nidoran kicked Marill, both Pokémon went flying in the opposite direction. "Marill, use Aqua Jet!" Marill flipped in the air and its body became surrounded by water. Suddenly, it shot through the air and slammed into Nidoran while it was still in the air. The Poison Pin Pokémon fell to the ground and didn't get back up. Silver stared at the Pokémon, then looked angrily at Marill and Lyra.

"We'll discuss this later, Nidoran," he said to the Pokémon before taking out its Poké Ball and recalling it. "You beat me with those puny Pokémon on your side. How is that possible?"

"You don't treat your Pokémon nice enough, that's what happened!" Ethan blurted out at Silver. The redheaded Trainer glanced at him.

"I am going to be the greatest Pokémon Trainer in the world. Don't you tell me about being 'nice'. Strong Pokémon battle and win. These Pokémon-" Silver took out two Poké Balls, most likely Totodile's and Nidoran's. "-are not. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to Cherrygrove City." Silver put the Poké Balls away and walked past Lyra and Ethan. As he walked by Lyra, he glanced at her with angry red eyes and continued after a moment. Ethan and Lyra looked at each other, then Lyra looked at the egg container in Ethan's arms.

"Elm!" they both shouted, and Lyra recalled Marill as they both continued to New Bark Town.

o 0 o

After about fifteen minutes of rushing through Route 29, Lyra and Ethan finally made it to New Bark Town and Prof. Elm's lab, only to find it surrounded by yellow caution tape and police cars. "Whoa, what happened here?" Lyra asked as Ethan handed her the Pokémon Egg case and ducked under the caution tape to run through the front door. "Ah! Ethan! Are we suppose to be going through that?" She paused and watched him continue further into the lab. "Oh, here I am talking to myself again. Wait for me!" Lyra moved the caution tape out of the way and walked through the front door. Inside, there were papers scattered throughout the lab, as well as many busted machines and computers. By his computer, Prof. Elm was talking to the Officer Jenny of New Bark Town. Ethan was in front of the door, examining the damage throughout the lab.

"This place is a mess," he mumbled to himself, and walked up towards Prof. Elm. Lyra followed her friend. When Elm's nervous eyes saw the two, he smiled.

"It's about time you two got here!" he announced, then his face brightened when he saw the Pokémon Egg in Lyra's arms, and he snatched it out of them. "So _this_ is the Pokémon Egg that Mr. Pokémon was talking about! It looks familiar, but I honestly have no idea what Pokémon it is off the top of my head! Perhaps if I study it more-"

"Professor, you have to concentrate on the issue at hand here," the Officer Jenny in front of them said, fixing her blue police uniform with a pair of white gloved hands. Prof. Elm glanced at the teal-haired officer and laughed nervously.

"Sorry about that, Officer," he answered.

"Do you know these children? Who are they?" Jenny questioned, placing her hands on her hips and glancing at them with fierce brown eyes.

"Oh, I know them quite well, Officer Jenny. This is Ethan and Lyra. They help me out from time to time. They were the ones I talked to on the phone," Elm explained, taking off his glasses and polishing them on his white lab coat.

"Oh, I see, and where were they?" she asked, taking out a small notebook and writing down notes.

"They were at my friend, Mr. Pokémon's house picking up this egg that I asked them to get. Or, at least I asked Lyra. Ethan was at the Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center fixing the Transfer Machines." Jenny nodded and closed her notebook after jotting down a few notes.

"What's going on, Professor?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah, why are there police all around here?" Lyra added, watching as a Growlithe that was sniffing around the room walked up to her and started sniffing her legs with its moist black nose. It took all her energy not to giggle at the tickling sensation.

"Well, as I was telling Officer Jenny here, I was sitting on my computer doing some research when a boy came in here through the back door. When he tried opening the case holding the Starter Pokémon, I turned around and was taken by surprise. When I locked eyes with him, he tried to run. I sent out my Pokémon and battled him with his Nidoran. During the commotion, he managed to sneak out with the Totodile that was sitting on the table over there!"

"A Nidoran and a Totodile..." Ethan mumbled.

"Hey, what did this Trainer look like?" Lyra asked the brown haired Professor, and Officer Jenny took out her notepad once again.

"Well, according to what Professor Elm and many eyewitnesses say they saw, the boy looked to be about fourteen years old, and he had long red hair on his head. He also was wearing a navy blue long sleeve button-up shirt with indigo jeans," Officer Jenny read off her notebook. Lyra and Ethan gasped and looked at each other.

"Silver!" they both exclaimed, and Prof. Elm's and Officer Jenny's eyebrows rose.

"You've seen him before?" Prof. Elm asked.

"Yeah, we both battled him!" Lyra answered. "On Route 29!"

"He had Totodile, but we thought he was just a new Trainer that had picked up Totodile from you. His attitude should have given us a hint, though," Ethan added. Officer Jenny's eyebrows lowered, then scrunched together.

"His attitude?"

"Yeah, he was really... rude to his Pokémon. He seemed to think of them as nothing but battling machines," Ethan said to her. Officer Jenny flipped to the final page of her notebook and started jotting down a few things with her pencil. After reading through them, she nodded and put the small pad of paper away.

"Okay, I think we've got enough information for a case. Thanks for your information, kids. Professor, we'll give you a call as soon as we find anything," Officer Jenny said to them, and rounded up her policemen and Growlithe, walking out the door with them.

"Man, I should have come straight back here after I was done in Cherrygrove City instead of going with Lyra to Mr. Pokémon's house!" Ethan exclaimed, taking off his cap and scratching his head in frustration.

"Now, now Ethan. There was no way you could have known about what was going to happen. Heck, if _I_ knew, I probably would have paid more attention and locked the back door," Elm said, chuckling at his little joke despite the situation.

"It probably wouldn't have mattered, Professor. When I got here earlier, Silver was looking through the window right above your computer, looking for ways to get in," Lyra explained. "I would have mentioned it, but I got caught up in the business with the Pokémon Egg and everything." When Lyra said 'Pokémon Egg', Prof. Elm's face lit up and he looked at the gray and crimson egg in his arms.

"Ah, yes, the egg! I almost forgot!" Elm exclaimed. "It'll be hard to research this egg, though. I feel sorry for poor Totodile." Ethan, who was standing silently next to Lyra, suddenly let out a large shout.

"Okay, that's it! I'm going out, and I'm going to find that Silver! And when I do, I'm going to kick his sorry butt and bring Totodile back here, Professor!" he shouted. He turned around and started running towards the door. "You both have my PokéGear number, so call me if you need me!" And with that, he ran out the door.

"I wonder what's gotten into him?" Prof. Elm asked himself.

"Well, Silver beat his Cyndaquil with Totodile in a battle, and then I managed to beat Silver," Lyra explained, smiling and giggling. "Knowing Ethan, he probably can't stand that a _girl_ beat Silver and he didn't. It probably doesn't help that that girl was me." Suddenly, Lyra gasped and scrambled to get a Poké Ball out from her pack. She showed the Poké Ball to Elm. "This is Chikorita's Poké Ball. I'm so sorry Professor, but Silver forced me to battle with it! I tried telling him no, but he gave me no choice. I'm so sorry!" Elm stared at the Poké Ball with a confused look, then smiled.

"That's fine, Lyra; no need to get all worked up over nothing," he said, taking the Poké Ball. "Let's see how Chikorita feels." The Poké Ball opened up and Chikorita came out of the Poké Ball, looking a little tired, but otherwise just fine.

"Chika!" it said happily and smiled when it saw Prof. Elm. Elm picked up the Pokémon and studied it for a moment.

"It seems to be really happy , Lyra. I'm proud of you."

"Yeah?" Lyra responded, looking happy as well. Elm nodded.

"Mhmm, in fact, I want you to _keep_ this Chikorita, but under one condition," he replied. "I want you to go out and find Silver. We both know that Ethan is a little bit hotheaded like his cousin, so he'll probably not do his best out there." Lyra laughed and nodded.

"Sure! But, that's up to Chikorita, of course," she said. "So Chikorita, want to come along with me?" Chikorita looked at Lyra and smiled happily, jumping into the brown haired girl's arms. Lyra hugged it and laughed. _I'm finally going to be an official Pokémon Trainer!_

* * *

Awww. For being such a sad chapter, I really liked this ending. Anyone else feel bad for Totodile and Nidoran! I want to hug them so bad. Big old meanie Silver. I kinda wanted to make him like Paul, only way meaner. For an anime that is pretty much kid-friendly, Paul is very mean to his Pokémon. I want to give Silver an even meaner streak, not only to Pokémon, but to people as well. Not too much to say, so for now, I'll thank the reviewers:

Thank you:

**Nianque**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DragonforceX**

**Zeta Dimento**

**Mysteryless**

**Hotrod198**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Harbringer of Houdoom **(Again, I'm so sorry!)

**Panda**

**arkee**

**Heart's Melody**

Okay so next chapter begins Lyra's first day on her journey! Along with Chikorita and Marill, will she be able to find Silver in time? Find out next chapter. Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	6. Saying Goodbye is not Always Easy

_And starting... next chapter, the real story begins. It's about time! But, I'm really looking forward to the adventure, and I hope all are too :) Just so you know, I appreciate all of your reviews, and it puts a smile on my face to even get one. You guys are the best! This story's for you guys! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Silver.

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Lyra laid on top of her pink flower print sheets, wide awake. _Of course I'm awake, I didn't sleep a wink last night. I'm too excited for my adventure!_ she thought. Ethan had gotten a head start by leaving as soon as possible the day before, but Lyra wanted to rest and pack fully to be extra prepared. The worst part about all of this would be having to say goodbye to her mom. She picked up her PokéGear and looked at the time. "Six-thirty; I guess I should get up now," she said, sitting up in her bed. At the foot of her bed, her Marill's ears twitched as it heard its Trainer awake, and it slowly opened its eyes. "Good morning, Ms. Marill. Are you ready for our first day of adventure?" Marill gave Lyra a very dirty look and rolled over to go back to sleep. Lyra shrugged, wiping the wrinkles out of her pink tank top. "Fine then. I can get ready _without_ your help."

Lyra got up and stretched, her back popping in two different places. On her nightstand, she noticed a Poké Ball and smiled. "Chikorita is probably up and ready to go," she said, picking up the Poké Ball and opening it up. The Leaf Pokémon came out and smiled up at Lyra. "Hello, Ms. Sunshine, are you ready for our first day of traveling?" Chikorita nodded happily in response. "That's good, unlike lazy-butt over there." Marill waved a little paw at the two without even looking, as if to blow them off. "We have a lot of things to do before we leave, so we'll let her sleep for now." Lyra walked into her closet and pulled out an ironing board, as well as her clothes that she would be bringing along with her on the journey. After folding out the ironing board and putting clothes on it, she flipped on the television as she plugged in the iron and waited for it to warm up. Noticing that the Floaroma Town Pokémon Contest was just beginning, Lyra quickly flipped to the channel, remembering Prof. Elm mention something about Marina and that was going to be in this contest.

"And what a wonderful performance that was. Thank you Ralph from Sunyshore City. Now, let's bring out our next performer!" the MC said. Her name, as Lyra remembered, was Marian, and she hosted all the contests in Sinnoh. "And now we have a treat for you today. All the way from New Bark Town in the Johto region, please welcome Pokémon Top Coordinator Marina!" The TV then flashed over to curtains, which pulled open and revealed Marina in a beautiful pink sparkling dress. The dress reached down to her feet, partially covering one of her pink high top platform shoes. Her light blue hair was brushed into its usual style, two long pigtails that stuck out much like Lyra's, but there wasn't a cap on her head. She was wearing golden star earring studs on her ears, and she wore a pearl necklace around her neck. She waved to the crowd with white gloved hands that went up past her elbows. She walked out onstage and took out a Poké Ball. The Poké Ball seemed darker than usual, and it had what seemed to be a flower-shaped sticker right above the button.

"Welcome, ladies and gentleman! My name is Marina, and I _love_ that you all came out here to see me!" she shouted into the crowd. "I want to begin this performance by introducing you all to a friend of mine; Little Pink!" Marina tossed the Poké Ball and it sailed through the air. When she tossed the ball, she spun on one leg like a ballerina, and despite being in heels and a dress, it looked remarkable. The screen then cut to Marina's Poké Ball, which opened up and released a huge white light. Not only did a light come out, however, but multiple red daisies came out with it. The white light condensed together and a green eyed Jigglypuff came out of the ball with the daisies floating around it.

"Staying with the Floaroma Town theme of flowers, Marina made a lovely decision by choosing a Flora Seal to put on her Pokémon's Poké Ball," the MC, Marian, said into her microphone. "How will she use these flowers to her advantage, however?"

"Why don't we show them, Little Pink? Use Psychic attack now!" Marina commanded. Little Pink's green eyes started to glow light blue and the daisies around her became outlined in light blue as well. Then, the flowers started to spiral around Jigglypuff in a double ring formation, and Jigglypuff started twirling around in the air.

"Excellent work! Marina is really taking advantage of Jigglypuff's ability to stay in the air while not being a Flying-type Pokémon! The way Jigglypuff is breathing in and out with ease while using a Psychic attack really proves that it really _is_ the Balloon Pokémon!" Marian explained to the crowd, who oo'd and ahh'd at the lovely flower performance Jigglypuff was giving them.

"This is nothing yet!" Marina said to the crowd. "Now Jigglypuff, Sing!" While still using a Psychic attack to make the flowers spin around her, Little Pink opened its mouth and started singing beautifully. Immediately, Lyra got the feel like she was in a beautiful field of flowers, despite the performance being on the television.

"Although usually we would all be asleep right now, Marina and her Jigglypuff are really showing how much control they have over Little Pink's Singing abilities by only giving the audience a beautiful voice to listen to!" The screen cut to show Marian's face and she closed her eyes and sighed. "This performance is really showing us what Floaroma Town is really about: flowers and beauty!"

"Okay, let's wrap this up, Little Pink! Gyro Ball!" Marina commanded. Jigglypuff stuck out its hands and light blue orbs of energy appeared at the end of arms. It then started to spin around fast, making it look like a small planet with a light blue ring around it. "Now, let go of Psychic!" The flowers that were circling around Jigglypuff suddenly stopped at the light blue glow around them faded, and they started to float towards Jigglypuff. When Jigglypuff hit the flowers with her Gyro Ball attack, they all shot out into the audience in different directions. The people cheered and laughed as they tried to grab the flowers for themselves, and if someone did touch them, they would fade into red sparkling powder. Finally, Jigglypuff started to float down to the ground while slowing down Gyro Ball, and eventually landing on the ground, pirouetting slowly on the ground with light blue energy on the tip of its arms. Marina also spun in time with Jigglypuff, and finally both Pokémon and Trainer stopped, facing the audience with their hands out. The whole audience started to cheer and clap at the beautiful performance. The screen then cut over to the panel of judges, starting with a man with graying hair wearing a crimson suit, and a black bow tie.

"That was a beautiful and wonderful performance by Marina. She really showed her talents as Top Coordinator of the Johto region," he said, and smiled at Marina. The camera scrolled to the right, and showed a small chubby man with squinty eyes with short brown hair.

"Yes, very remarkable," he said, and nodded his head. Then, the screen scrolled over to a Nurse Joy with a light pink cross on her nurse's cap, who smiled sweetly at the camera.

"Marina did excellent in her performance round, and I can't wait to see her battle with style and grace as well," she said, and the crowd started cheering.

"Well, it looks like the judges have already made their decision to move Marina up into the battling rounds! Congrats!" Marian said, and Lyra flicked off the television.

"She's gotten really good. I hope someday I'm strong enough to challenge Marina. Or even Jimmy or Vincent for that matter," Lyra sighed. Suddenly, Chikorita shouted out and Lyra looked down at her ironing board, only to see her shirt burning under the hot iron. "Oh no!"

o 0 o

"Morning, Mom!" Lyra exclaimed as she came downstairs, Chikorita and Marill following behind. Lyra's mother was at the stove, cooking up some eggs and bacon.

"Hello, dear. Why don't you sit down at the table. I already prepared a bowl of PokéChow for both Marill and Chikorita," she replied, pointing to the two dark blue bowls filled with brown pellets by the table. The two Pokémon happily exclaimed and made their way over to their platters of food. "So Lyra, I heard you screaming upstairs earlier. What happened up there?" Lyra sat down on one of the four wooden chairs that was around it and sighed, pulling off her white cap and slamming it onto the table.

"I burned one of my shirts under the iron," Lyra confessed. Her mother giggled at the comment.

"Again? Was a cute boy walking by the window again?" Lyra's face immediately reddened.

"No!" she exclaimed. "Actually, I was watching Marina's opening performance for her contest in the Sinnoh region. Floweroma Town, if I'm not mistaken."

"Floaroma Town, dear," the brown-haired woman corrected, putting the completed food on a plate and bringing it over to her daughter, as well as putting a napkin next to her. Lyra picked up a fork and started eating her breakfast. Lyra's mother sat down and fixed her red headband before looking at Lyra longingly. Lyra noticed her staring and raised an eyebrow.

"Shomtin' wong?" Lyra asked with a mouthful of scrambled eggs. Lyra's mom smiled sadly.

"Your antics..." she mumbled in response. Lyra swallowed her food and stared at her mother with her brown eyes. Her mother wasn't usually this distant.

"Care to explain?" Lyra asked.

"My little girl is growing up, and going out on a Pokémon Journey. I'm going to miss your klutzy ways, the sound of your laughter, and mostly everything about you." Her mom wiped a tear from her hazel eyes on her lilac shirt and stood up, clearing her throat. "But, I guess should be happy for you, right?" Lyra smiled.

"Don't worry Mom. This isn't a journey. Once either me or Ethan take back the stolen Totodile, I'll come straight home and give you a big hug. Does that help?" Lyra's mother smiled at her daughter. She looked down at Chikorita and Marill and smiled again.

"Yes, it does." But deep down, Lyra's mother knew that it would be a long time before Lyra would be home for good.

o 0 o

Lyra quickly finished her breakfast and recalled Chikorita into its Poké Ball, while Marill hung on Lyra's arm like she usually did. "Well Mom, I'm off. Professor Elm wanted me to come see him before I left, then I'm leaving good ol' New Bark for a while." Lyra's mom nodded and hugged her daughter.

"Just stay in one piece, sweetie. Be careful around that boy. And make sure Ethan doesn't get hurt too bad," Lyra's mom joked, and they both laughed. "Love you, Ly."

"Love ya, Mom," Lyra replied, and walked out the door, towards Professor Elm's lab. "I can't believe we're leaving home, Marill." The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded. "I feel bad for leaving Mom home all by herself, but I have to save that Totodile! Professor Elm entrusted me with this mission, and it's now my duty to complete it." After walking for a little while longer, Lyra and Marill finally reached Prof. Elm's lab. When she reached the door, she opened it and walked right in. In the middle of the lab, the chestnut-haired Professor was studying the egg that they had received from Mr. Pokémon. He had multiple machines hooked up to it, and it seemed like he was running tests on it. "Hello Professor. Here I am!" Prof. Elm looked up from his paperwork and smiled. Lyra could easily tell that the man hadn't taken a shower in a couple of days due to the scruffy look he had going on. His hair was messy, and it looked slightly unkempt. His face was unshaven as well, and you could see the whiskers on his face sticking out from his chin. _Let's just hope he smells alright, _Lyra thought.

"Ah, hello Lyra," Prof. Elm greeted. "I was just running a couple scans on the Pokémon Egg you gave me." Lyra walked up and looked over the Professor's documents, but couldn't understand a thing it read.

"Find anything?" she asked. The Professor shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no, not yet," he replied, then stared at the egg for a while longer. "Now, follow me over to the back; I have something to give to you." Professor Elm lead Lyra to the back of the room, and he walked over to a steel table in the back. He picked up something and handed it to the brunette. "For your journey." Lyra looked over the slim white and pink box that Prof. Elm gave her and squealed.

"Oh my god! Is this a Pokédex?" she exclaimed. Prof. Elm nodded, and she opened it up. On the screen, a picture of Lyra appeared, smiling happily. **"I am Pokédex model 6557d programmed by Professor Elm for Pok****é****mon Trainer Lyra Soul of the town of New Bark. My function is to provide Lyra with information and advice regarding Pok****é****mon and their training. If lost or stolen, I cannot be replaced."**

"Keep in mind the last sentence, Lyra," Elm reminded, and Lyra nodded happily.

"Thank you so much, Professor! I will keep it in my sight at all times! I'll call you if I see anything interesting!" Lyra shouted, and ran out of the building, holding her new Pokédex in her hand, with Marill struggling to hold onto its Trainer's arm.

* * *

Omg, what? Is this an update? I know, I'm sorry. I haven't even been on my forums at all. I've been really busy lately, but at least I got in an update *nervous laughter*. I hope you guys in America all had an awesome 4th of July weekend! The fireworks here sucked, and I didn't even get fried dough, lol. But, it was still alright, and I had a blast that weekend. Tell me how your weekend went (if you're in America, lol. Anyone else in another country, well... sorry!).

In another topic, is anyone else not impressed by the new Pokémon that are coming out? Some of these Pokémon are just... strange. My favorite one so far is Mamepato. It's the pigeon one. For those of you who don't know, I really like pigeons. My favorite animal is a pigeon, and Pidgey was not cutting it for me. Plus, the whole deal with Triple Battles... I just don't know if I'm going to enjoy this game. Now, let me thank the reviewers!

Thanks:

**DragonforceX**

**Nianque**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**Mysteryless**

**Hotrod198**

**arkee**

**Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**xXLilxXxPandaXx**

**Harbringer of Houndoom**

**Tobiruun**

**Creation of Pokerus **(yes you will... but they're so huggable! Thanks for the review!)

**Cynthia Zarya**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

Okay guys, that's it. Next chapter, Lyra makes her way to Violet City. But which will she decide to do: Contests, or Gym battles? Find out next chapter. Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	7. This Can't be Good

_This chapter was kinda difficult since Lyra has already traveled through Route 29, 30, and Cherrygrove City. Hopefully, I did alright, though. Also, I have no idea on any Pok__é__mon that Lyra should capture, so if you have any ideas, feel free to tell me! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 7**

"Chikorita, use Tackle attack!" Lyra commanded, and the Leaf Pokémon charged at the enemy Caterpie, slamming into it at full force. Caterpie flew through the air and landed onto the ground with a thud. "Great job, Chikorita!" As soon as she said that however, the Worm Pokémon slowly got up.

"You can do it, Caterpie!" the Caterpie's Trainer cheered. "Use String Shot to tie it up!" The light green caterpillar-like Pokémon took in a deep breath and fired a thin white string from its mouth at Chikorita.

"This again? Chikorita, use Razor Leaf to cut it up!" Lyra shouted. Chikorita jumped into the air and swung its head, making multiple light green leaves fly from the leaf at the String Shot, cutting it to bits. The leaves then curved around and struck Caterpie, knocking it out at once. The brown-haired boy sighed and recalled his Caterpie back into its Poké Ball. "Awesome job, Chikorita!" Chikorita ran up to its Trainer and jumped into her arms.

"Very impressive battling!" the young boy complimented, fixing his cream colored shorts and walking up to Lyra. "Are you going to be going for Gym Battles, or are you going to enter Contests?" Lyra smiled.

"Well, actually, I'm on a mission right now, so I don't know if I'll have time for any of those," Lyra said, returning Chikorita into her Poké Ball and putting it away. Marill jumped up to her favorite spot on her Trainer's arm and watched the two talk.

"Well, surely you have to be interested in _one_ of them!" Lyra thought for a moment.

"I guess if I had to choose, I'd probably choose battling in Gyms. You couldn't get me into a dress if you tried!" she replied, and they both laughed.

"That's good. You're really good at battling. It's hard to believe that you're a new Pokémon Trainer!" the boy said. "There's a Gym in Violet City, right next to this route." Lyra thought for a moment.

"Really?" she asked him, and the boy nodded in response. "I still don't know. I'm still looking for someone, and if I get involved in Gym Battling, then it will only let that person get ahead." The boy was quiet for a moment as he fixed his smooth brown hair.

"I've been here all day; maybe I've seen the person you were looking for?" the boy suggested.

"Okay then. The boy I'm looking for has shoulder length red hair, and he has a really mean look on his face. A look that could frighten small children," Lyra explained. The boy stood for a moment, and his face looked as if he was searching through his memories.

"An older kid with red eyes? And he had on a dark shirt and jeans, right?" Lyra excitedly nodded.

"That's him! He stole a Totodile from Prof. Elm, and I'm trying to get it back. Did you see him?"

"Yeah, he challenged me to a battle. As a matter of fact, he only _used_ a Totodile. Seemed to be pretty mean to it as well..." The boy mumbled the last sentence mostly to himself then to Lyra, it seemed to her, but she heard it quite well.

"Which way did he go after the battle?" Lyra questioned. The boy pointed to the north.

"He made his way to Violet City. Said something about going to Sprout Tower," the boy replied. "Not to me, but I heard it." Lyra nodded.

"Okay then, I guess I have to go there, then," Lyra said. "Thanks, kid." The boy nodded and the two Trainers shook hands.

"You should really look into the whole Gym Battle thing. I think you would do excellent!" Lyra nodded and started to walk away towards the direction the boy pointed to.

"I really wouldn't mind Gym Battles too much, Marill," Lyra said to her Pokémon as they strolled up the road. "They actually seem like a lot of fun. But would Prof. Elm mind if we participated while we're on a mission for him?" The light blue Pokémon shrugged. "I don't know either. Maybe I'll give him a call when we get to the Pokémon Center." Lyra thought for a moment then shook her head. "No, first Silver, _then_ Gym Battles!"

o 0 o

Lyra arrived at Violet City after about twenty minutes of walking through the small path on Route 31. The city had a peaceful, quiet feel to it, and Lyra had never been to this city before. In the distance, she could see a huge, tall tower in the background of the city. Luckily, the Pokémon Center was right near the entrance, and Lyra walked right it when she arrived. Inside, there was a Nurse Joy behind the counter, working on a computer. Lyra walked up to the counter and handed the pink haired woman Chikorita's Poké Ball and placed Marill on the counter. "Here you go Nurse Joy!" The Nurse Joy smiled and called over a Blissey who put the Poké Ball on a tray, put Marill on a stroller, and walked into the back room.

"Thank you. Your Pokémon will be ready in just a few moments," Nurse Joy said, and smiled at Lyra once again.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy," Lyra replied, bowing slightly. "I have a question about this place; are you busy?" Nurse Joy clicked a couple times on her computer using her mouse, then turned towards Lyra.

"I'm all ears. What do you want to know?"

"Well, I saw a large tower in the back of the city, and I was wondering if that was Sprout Tower?" Lyra asked.

"A tall tower with blue shingles, right?" Nurse Joy replied, and Lyra nodded. "Yes, that is Sprout Tower. Lots of beginning Pokémon Trainers go there to train their Pokémon. It's run by a group of monks." Lyra put her hand on her chin to think.

"If people go there to train, that _must_ be where Silver went," she mumbled to herself.

"Are you looking for someone in particular?" Nurse Joy asked, hearing Lyra's muttering.

"Kinda. I'm looking for a boy with long red hair and a permanent scowl on his face," Lyra answered.

"Oh, a boy who looked like that came in here not too long ago. He healed his Pokémon, then left without saying a word," the pink haired nurse explained. "Is he a friend of yours?" Lyra laughed nervously to herself.

"Not exactly," she replied. Then, the Blissey from before walked out and handed Lyra her Marill and her Chikorita's Poké Ball. "Thanks Blissey. And thank you, Nurse Joy!" The brunette put away her Poké Ball and ran out the door, with Marill following close behind.

o 0 o

Violet City was full of friendly people, and when an elderly lady noticed that Lyra was new to the town, she showed her the way to Sprout Tower. "Wow, thanks ma'am. It was really nice of you to show me the way!" Lyra said, bowing to the woman in thanks.

"No problem, little lady. Good luck in your training!" the woman replied, and walked off, her cane making a small thunk every time it hit the ground. Lyra turned around and examined the tower. There were two stone bridges that reached over a pond that surrounded the tower. On an island in between the two bridges, there were two statues of a Bellsprout on either side of it. The tower itself was huge, and it sounded as if something was creaking inside it. The creaking sent chills running up Lyra's spine, and she hugged Marill in her arms tightly.

"This place gives me the creeps, Marill," Lyra said to her Pokémon.

"Marill, Mair," it said to its Trainer, patting her arm comfortingly. Lyra smiled slightly at her Pokémon and walked forward into the tower. As soon as Lyra strolled into the large tower, she gasped at the sight she saw. Right in the middle of the tower, there was a huge beam that rocked back and forth all on its own. Obviously the beam was the main attraction, since it was in the middle of the room, and all there was in there other than the beam were stairs going up to the upper floors. From behind a pillar, a man wearing a long gray robe walked out. He wore wooden getas on his feet, and he had black hair that was shaven, and thus very short. Around his neck, he wore a necklace of prayer beads, and hooked onto them was a Poké Ball. The man walked over to Lyra and bowed.

"Hello, and welcome to the Sprout Tower," the man said. "Have you come here to train, or to sight-see?"

"Well, actually, I was kinda-" Lyra began, but was then interrupted by a huge explosion coming from upstairs. Both Lyra and the monk turned towards the stairs and saw smoke coming down from one of the upper floors. "What in the world was that?"

"I don't know, but let's find out!" the monk said, and they both started running up the stairs, waving the smoke away from their faces. At the top of the stairs, there was a group of monks on the ground, as well as a bunch of Bellsprout. All of the monks and Bellsprout were collapsed on the ground, and all of them were circled around a red-headed boy and a Totodile.

"Silver!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Marill!" Marill copied, jumping out of her Trainer's arms.

"You know this boy?" the monk asked. Lyra nodded. Silver glanced at the two, but ignored them and looked down at Totodile.

"Well, you're improving. That's a start," Silver said to it, and the Pokémon nodded. Silver then faced an elderly man wearing purple and yellow robes that was sitting on a chair in the back. "Okay, old man, I defeated your monks. Now we battle _you_." The old man nodded and got up slowly, taking out a Poké Ball from his robe.

"You have met my conditions, and I have no choice but to accept your challenge. I will not hold back, however," the elderly man replied.

"That is the elder of this tower. He watches over it, and he is also the strongest out of all of us," the monk next to Lyra explained to her. "However, that boy seems to be strong as well." The Elder walked forward and stopped, making room for a battlefield.

"This shall be a two on two Pokémon battle. Is that alright with you?" the Elder asked.

"Whatever. Either way, I'm starting with Totodile," Silver responded, and Totodile jumped forward.

"I choose Bellsprout! Go!" The Elder tossed his Poké Ball and it burst open, releasing a small flower-like Pokémon. It had a yellow head that looked like a bell, and a thin, brown root-like body with two leaves connected at the sides.

"Bellsprout?" Lyra asked.

"Bellsprout are our main Pokémon here at Sprout Tower. The beam in the middle sways back and forth like a Bellsprout," the monk said to Lyra.

"Oh, so that's why it's called Sprout Tower!" Lyra responded.

"Precisely," the monk answered, and looked on at the battle. The Elder ran his fingers through his thick white mustache and started the battle.

"Bellsprout, Vine Whip now!" the Elder shouted. The Bellsprout raised its leaf-like arms and two dark green vines came out from in between its leaves and body, both of them heading towards Totodile.

"Bellsprout again? I took on five Bellsprout at the same time and beat them all. What makes you think _this_ Bellsprout isn't going to meet the same fate as the others? Totodile, dodge the vines and use Ice Fang now!" Totodile ran towards the two vines and jumped over them as they struck the floor where it had previously been. Then, the Big Jaw Pokémon opened its mouth and two of its sharp teeth started to glow light blue, and they fired two light blue beams from them at Bellsprout, hitting the Flower Pokémon. Bellsprout called out in pain and it bounced off the ground before settling. "Now, Scratch attack!" Totodile landed on the ground and started to run towards Bellsprout, its claws ready to strike.

"Bellsprout, Stun Spore!" the Elder called out, and Bellsprout raised its head, releasing a sparkling orange powder from its mouth at Totodile.

"Jump back!" Silver shouted, and Totodile did that, just mere seconds before the powder reached it. "Ice Fang now!" Like before, Totodile opened its mouth and fired two light blue beams from its fangs at Bellsprout, this time knocking out the Flower Pokémon. The Elder grumbled and recalled his Pokémon.

"Elder Li!" the monk next to Lyra shouted, but the Elder held out his hand to stop him.

"I am fine, Nico," he said to him, and the monk calmed down. Totodile looked at Silver slightly.

"Don't look at me. That Stun Spore was very close to hitting you. You should have dodged faster," Silver lectured. Totodile immediately looked away when Silver said those words. The Elder stared at Silver a little bit before he took out another Poké Ball from his robe.

"Hoothoot, go!" Li shouted, and tossed the Poké Ball in his hand. The ball burst open and a brown owl-like Pokémon standing on one leg came out of the ball.

"No Bellsprout? What a surprise," Silver sarcastically said. "Totodile, if you lose this battle, I'll turn you into a pair of shoes, understand?" Totodile gasped and nodded its head up and down as hard as it could. Both Lyra and Nico gasped at the red-head's statement.

"How dare you!" Nico shouted. "You must learn to be nice-"

"Quiet, or I'll send Totodile to attack _you_," Silver stated, not turning to face them at all, but facing the battlefield. Elder Li looked at Nico and shook his head. "Totodile, use Scratch attack now!" Totodile ran forward, its claws extended.

"Hoothoot, fly into the air, then use Peck attack!" Li commanded. As Totodile reached Hoothoot, the Owl Pokémon started flapping its wings and flew into the air. Totodile looked up as Hoothoot flipped around and dove down, repeatedly pecking Totodile's head with its pink beak. Totodile tried to strike it with a Scratch attack, but every time it would swipe at Hoothoot, the Pokémon would fly up, then come down to Peck it.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" Silver ordered. Totodile swiped one last time at Hoothoot, and when the Owl Pokémon flew into the air, the Big Jaw Pokémon fired a spiral of water from its mouth at it. Hoothoot was hit with the blast and it fell to the ground, bouncing a couple times due to its ball-like body. "Ice Fang." Totodile's fangs started to glow light blue and it fired two light blue beams from its mouth.

"Hoothoot, send the attack back at it with Confusion attack!" Elder Li called. Hoothoot bounced right back up and its red eyes started to glow light blue. Suddenly, the light blue beams shooting from Totodile's fangs became surrounded by an even deeper light blue, and the beams curved, heading towards Totodile instead of Hoothoot. Totodile called out in surprise at seeing its own attack shot right back at it.

"It's controlling the attack with its mind, Totodile," Silver told the Big Jaw Pokémon. "Dodge it and use Bite attack!" Totodile snapped out of the surprised state and it jumped out of the way of the attack. As the light blue glow faded from Hoothoot's eyes, Totodile landed in front of it and bit down on Hoothoot's wing with its powerful jaw. Hoothoot called out in pain and started flailing around, but Totodile held on with all its might. "Use Ice Fang again." Totodile's fangs started to glow light blue once again, and suddenly, there was a huge explosion, just like the one from before. Once the smoke and dust passed and flew out the window, Elder Li's Hoothoot was encased in a block of ice.

"Hoothoot!" Elder Li called. He sighed and reached into his robe to grab his Pokémon's Poké Ball, when Silver spoke up.

"Totodile, Water Gun," he muttered, and Totodile fired a spiral of water from its mouth, hitting the Owl Pokémon and shooting it against the wall, breaking the ice and causing it to faint.

"What a rude child!" Nico shouted. "Elder's Pokémon was already knocked out! You did not need to attack it again!" Silver ignored his statement and he smirked, looking at Totodile. Totodile was looking at its hands strangely, and suddenly, its whole body started to glow white. Lyra gasped, and so did Marill.

"Totodile's evolving?" Lyra asked in surprise. "But I thought that Pokémon could only evolve when it really likes its Trainer?"

"Not for all Pokémon," Nico explained. "For your Marill, that was the case when it was an Azurill, but for Pokémon like Bellsprout or Totodile, it is not." Totodile's glowing body grew larger, and it seemed to be growing new parts. Finally, the glow faded, and a brand new Pokémon stood in its place. This Pokémon seemed a lot like Totodile, but it had definitely changed. Its bottom jaw was now tan colored, and it had a pattern on its body that made it look like it was wearing a cloth on one shoulder. On its head, it had a red appendage sticking out of the top of its head, as well as one going down its back, and at the end of its tail. Its red eyes grew more fiercer, and around them they had black markings.

"Croconaw!" it called out loudly.

"Excellent..." Silver muttered, smirking. Lyra took out her Pokédex and scanned the newly evolved Pokémon. **"Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pok****é****mon, and the evolved form of Totodile. Once it bites down on something, it won't let go until it loses its fangs. But new fangs grow back quickly."**

"Croconaw..." Lyra repeated, then gasped. "Oh no, what am I going to tell Prof. Elm?" Silver smirked at Croconaw, then recalled it into its Poké Ball. Elder Li then walked forward.

"Your battle strength is amazing, but you should have more care about your Pokémon," he said to the red-head. "You should care for your Pokémon more. They are not tools of war."

"Don't tell me, you old fool; you lost to me," Silver snapped. "The only thing that I care about are strong Pokémon who will win every battle they are in." Silver turned to face Lyra, and he stared at her with his angry red eyes. "I would battle you right now, but you would lose just the same, as these monks did." Silver didn't wait for a response as he started to walk down the stairs.

"Wait! Give me back Totodile!" Lyra shouted. However, Silver ignored her and continued walking down the steps, eventually exiting Sprout Tower. "Figures. I would chase after him, but these people need to be helped." Her, Nico and Marill ran up to each monk, helping both them and their Bellsprout up. Each one that Lyra helped mentioned something about how ruthless Silver was, but Lyra paid no attention to them. All she could think of was Totodile evolving into Croconaw. _That's going to be a problem. Totodile evolved so fast! Probably because Silver was training it nonstop until it was caught up to his Nidoran._ Suddenly, a strong wind appeared, and a large brown and cream colored bird with long yellow and red feathers on its head flew in front of the windows of Sprout Tower. On the bird Pokémon's back was a young man with dark blue hair, and he jumped down off his Pokémon and onto the Sprout Tower floor. On his shoulder, a Hoothoot was perched, looking around with its large red eyes.

"I heard a large explosion here. Is everyone alright?" the man asked as he examined the place for damage.

"Everything is fine, Falkner. It was just a Trainer, training his Pokémon here," Elder Li replied. The man, Falkner, nodded and fixed his light blue robes.

"Just making sure. Usually, an explosion that loud isn't heard from my Gym," Falkner said, then looked towards Lyra and her Marill. "Is this the Trainer?"

"No, she arrived moments before. She is just a spectator," Li answered.

"Hi, I'm Lyra," she introduced, sticking out her hand to shake his.

"I'm Falkner, Leader of the Violet City Gym." Falkner walked forward and shook Lyra's hand. Hoothoot smiled at Lyra, and then to her Marill as well.

"So you're the Gym Leader?" Lyra asked, and Falkner nodded.

"Do you plan on challenging me?" he replied, smirking.

"I don't know yet. I don't really know _what_ I'm going to do," she sighed.

"Well, maybe tomorrow you should come over to the Gym and try your hand at a battle with me. If you win, I'll give you a badge. How about it?" Lyra looked at Falkner's Hoothoot, then over at the Pidgeot flying around outside the tower.

"I don't even know if I'll stand a chance, but I guess I can give it a try." Falkner smiled and nodded.

"Good, then I'll see you tomorrow morning," he said, and started walking towards the window. "I'm glad no one was hurt, Elder." Elder Li waved at Falkner, and the young man jumped out the window. Lyra gasped in horror, but then sighed in relief when she saw that he landed on Pidgeot and they flew back towards the city. Elder Li walked up to Lyra, and Marill jumped up to hang onto her Trainer's arm.

"You're planning on challenging Falkner to a battle tomorrow?" Elder Li asked her. Lyra shrugged.

"I guess so!" she said, then giggled. Elder Li smiled.

"Falkner is a very powerful Gym Leader, more powerful than most of the others," he told the brunette. She raised one of her eyebrows.

"Are you sure? I think I remember my friend Jimmy once telling me that the Gym Leader here was a piece of cake to beat.

"How long ago was this?"

"About 3 or 4 years ago," Lyra answered after searching her memories. Elder Li nodded.

"When Falkner first started, he wasn't a very strong Gym Leader, and he would always be beaten. One day, however, he asked me to take him into a far away place and train him. Now, Falkner hardly ever loses."

"Oh, well thanks for the encouraging words..." Lyra mumbled sarcastically. "Anyways, I've got to go. I have a telephone call to make." Li nodded, and bowed to the brunette. All the other monks did as well, and Lyra waved goodbye as she walked down the stairway.

* * *

Well, this chapter went by quick. Quicker than last chapter -. Anyways, hope there was more action in this chapter for you guys. Anybody who feels sorry for Totodile/Croconaw, raise your hand *raises hand*. Again, sorry for the big skip from New Bark to Route 31, but there wasn't anything interesting in Route 29-Cherrygrove City-Route 30. I could have done a contest, but I didn't really want to. I need to start looking into places to put OCs as well.

Also, this is an important announcement for those of you who like my writing style, or like Yu-gi-oh. A good friend of mine, Curse of the Black Rose, and I, are going to be collaborating on a Yu-gi-oh story. We haven't decided on a title, or even finished chapter 1, but we are deciding to give it a shot. Hopefully, you're interested, and I'll have more information next chapter.

Finally, some people were telling me that they were having trouble trying to read last chapter. I find this odd, but I'm sure it was FF.N. If you didn't read it, read it now! Now, to thank the reviewers:

Thanks:

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Nianque**

**Creation of Pokerus**

**Hotrod198**

**arkee**

Next chapter, Lyra tries her hand at a Gym Battle against Falkner. Will she win her first badge, or will she be defeated from the get-go? Thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	8. The Elegant Master of Flying Pokémon

_This chapter marks a very special occasion. It's Lyra's first Gym Battle! It took eight chapters to get here, but we finally made it! I hope the battle is as epic as everyone is hoping it will be. So, without further ado, enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"And that's what happened. Now do you see why I'm so worried?" Lyra explained to Prof. Elm, whose puzzled face was on the screen of one of the video phone in the Violet City Pokémon Center. The Pokémon Professor nodded his head slowly at Lyra's statement.

"Yes, I can see why that would be quite troublesome," Prof. Elm finally said. "Silver must have been training that Totodile nonstop in order for it to evolve in a few days." Prof. Elm paused for another moment more. "I guess that nothing can be done about it now. I would still like you to pursuit Silver; just to see how Croconaw takes to him. I'm very interested to see how that little Totodile grows up to be. Also, if you see Ethan, make sure to fill him in on the information you told me." Lyra nodded her head. "Now, anything else you want to ask me before I go?" Lyra bit her lip and took a deep breath.

"Actually Professor, there is," she admitted. "When I was at Sprout Tower yesterday, the Gym Leader of this city was there, and he asked me to try my hand at a Gym Battle." A grin spread across Prof. Elm's face as she spoke. "And I was wondering if it was okay if I participated in Gym Battles while following Silver. Of course they won't be my main objective, but I still think-"

"Lyra, Lyra, slow down! You're more than welcome to participate in Gym Battles," Prof. Elm answered. "In fact, I was actually _expecting_ you to ask me once you got into Violet City. Most people do once they see the Gym there." Lyra squealed and jumped up and down, causing many people around the Pokémon Center to stare strangely at her.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you Professor!" Lyra exclaimed, then realized that everyone was staring and quietly sat back down. Prof. Elm laughed as Lyra's face started to turn red.

"No problem, Lyra. Just make sure that you register your Pokédex with the Nurse Joy in that Pokémon Center before you enter. Otherwise, you won't be able to get into the Silver Conference even after collecting all eight badges," Prof. Elm reminded. "Now, make sure you keep me updated on everything, and tell me how your match went when you have the time. You have my number in your PokéGear." Lyra nodded.

"Yes, sir! Thanks again, Professor. You're the best!" Prof. Elm laughed, and the line was disconnected. Lyra stood up and walked up to the counter, where a Blissey brought out a tray with two Poké Balls on it. The round, pink Pokémon wearing a nurse's cap handed the tray to Nurse Joy, who then handed the tray to the brunette.

"Here are your Pokémon, all fit and ready to go!" Nurse Joy said to Lyra as she put the Poké Balls away.

"Thanks a lot, Nurse Joy. I was also wondering if I could register for the Johto League here? Prof. Elm says I have to register my Pokédex if I'm going to compete in the Silver Conference," Lyra explained, and Nurse Joy nodded.

"Not a problem. All you have to do is hand me your Pokédex and I'll do the rest," she replied. The brunette took out her pink and white Pokédex and handed it to the pink-haired nurse, who stuck the Pokédex into her computer and started typing. Lyra's face and her current team of Pokémon appeared on the screen, and a large sign reading 'O.K.' appeared over the images. "Okay Lyra from New Bark Town, you're all set!" Nurse Joy's computer spat out Lyra's Pokédex from the slot and she handed it back to the beginner Trainer. Nurse Joy then reached under her desk and pulled out a rectangular case with rounded edges and handed it to Lyra. It was light pink, the color of a Pecha Berry, with a red Poké Ball symbol on the front. On the inside, there was eight holes punched in blue velvet. "This Badge Case will be a perfect place for you to put the badges you win at the Gyms all around the Johto region."

"Oh wow, thanks Nurse Joy!" Lyra thanked, examining the case.

"I'm assuming you're going to battle against the Violet City Gym?" Joy asked her. Lyra nodded happily.

"It's my first Gym Battle. I'm so nervous," she stated. "I hear Falkner is pretty tough, too. Anyways Nurse Joy, thanks for everything!" Nurse Joy bowed at Lyra, and the brunette released her Marill from her Poké Ball. After the Aqua Mouse Pokémon was happily hanging from her arm, Lyra walked out of the Pokémon Center and headed towards the Violet Gym.

o 0 o

"Wow, so this is the Violet Gym, huh?" Lyra asked herself, looking up at the huge building. It was extremely tall, like a tower. It was violet in color, with a darker purple spiral going around the outside of the building. The base was square shaped, and Lyra guessed that was where the lobby was. "Well, I guess we have to go in through these doors," she said to Marill, pointing to the clear automatic doors in front of them. Suddenly, a shadow flashed over them, and Lyra looked up to see a triangle shaped hand-glider soaring in the sky above them. The glider itself was red and white, and holding onto it was Falkner. When the blue eyed young man noticed Lyra standing below, he flew down and stopped with a graceful landing. He walked up to Lyra and smiled.

"I was expecting you, Lyra," he welcomed, folding up and gathering his hand-glider.

"You hand-glide? That looks so cool!" she exclaimed, and Falkner smiled.

"Yes. I started hang-gliding so that I could try to understand my Flying Pokémon better," Falkner responded. "It's quite amazing to fly through the skies side-by-side with your Flying-type Pokémon." Falkner seemed to stare out into space for a small while, but then shook his head slightly and looked at Lyra. "Are you ready for our battle?" Lyra nodded, and Falkner led them into the Gym through the automatic doors. Inside was a desk, with a telephone and computer sitting on it. There was also many chairs around the place.

"Seems like a regular lobby to me," Lyra mumbled to herself.

"What?" Falkner asked, turning towards the brown eyed girl. Lyra jumped up and laughed nervously.

"Did I say that out loud? Sorry," she replied. _Get a grip, Lyra! Don't act stupid in front of him!_ Falkner led them to a pair of doors towards the back of the Gym's lobby, and pressed a button on the side. The doors opened up and it was revealed to be an elevator instead of a room. Both Lyra and Falkner stepped inside, and Falkner pressed the button with a large 'R' on it. The elevator dinged twice and the doors closed as it started up. The elevator jerked up and Lyra fell on her butt as it did, making Marill bounce off the floor and wall. Falkner bent down to help her up, but she shook away his hand. "I'm okay. I fall all the time! No big deal." Lyra got back up and smiled nervously at Falkner, who smiled back and turned towards the doors to wait for the elevator to open. _What is wrong with you? __This is_ so_ embarrassing! _Marill picked herself off the ground and huffed at Lyra, giving her Trainer a dirty look before jumping up and perching once again on her arm and pack.

Finally, the elevator opened, and both Falkner and Lyra stepped out. They were on the roof of the building. It was a flat brown surface with a stadium painted on the top of it. There were benches on both sides behind the boxes where the two Trainers would stand during the match. On the opposite side of them, there were many people dressed in white robes. "Welcome to the Violet Gym," Falkner announced, and Lyra almost peed herself. She was never good with heights, and being as clumsy as she was, she didn't feel too comfortable battling on top of a roof many feet above the ground. Falkner noticed Lyra's face starting to pale and looked at her. "You're not scared of heights, are you?"

"Who, me? Nah, I'll be fine. Let's just get on with the battle!" Lyra exclaimed, trying to act as brave as she could. Falkner pointed to her side and she walked over, placing her pack on the bench and taking Chikorita's Poké Ball, placing it in her pocket. "Okay Lyra, you can do this..." She turned around and stepped onto the Trainer's side of the stadium, Marill holding on tightly to her arm. One of the white robed people, whom Lyra assumed were Falkner's pep squad, stood up and walked forward and looked at the battlefield. He had short, spiky black hair, and his robe seemed to be darker than the others.

"The official Johto League battle between Lyra, the challenger from New Bark Town and Falkner, the Violet Gym Leader will now begin. At stake is the Zephyr Badge. Each will use three Pokémon. Begin the match when ready," he stated, then backed off to sit with the others.

_Three Pok__é__mon? I only have two! Oh no..._ Lyra thought, biting her lip for a moment. She felt so nervous from so many different things, most of her muscles were practically shaking.

"I hope you're ready Lyra. Just because you're a friend doesn't mean I won't go easy on you," Falkner said, taking out a Poké Ball from his robe and pressing the button to make it bigger. "Hoothoot, go!" Falkner tossed the red and white sphere out onto the field, and the round owl-like Pokémon came out of the ball.

"Hoothoot, I remember this Pokémon from yesterday," Lyra mumbled to herself, and took out her Pokédex. **"Hoothoot, the Owl Pok****é****mon. Hoothoot stands on one leg, but uses both its powerful eyes to see clearly even through the darkest nights." **Lyra put away her Pokédex and looked at the Aqua Mouse Pokémon on her arm. "Okay Marill, I choose you. Show that Hoothoot who's boss!" Marill nodded and hopped onto the battlefield. Falkner seemed to be unfazed by Lyra's choice of Pokémon, and was silent as he waited for the referee.

"Begin!" the boy with black hair called, and another person wearing a white robe and a red headband around his head tapped a white and brown taiko drum, signaling the battle to begin.

"Okay Marill, use Water Gun attack now!" Marill jumped into the air and took a deep breath, releasing a stream of water from its mouth at Hoothoot.

"Hoothoot, fly up and dodge it!" Falkner commanded, and Hoothoot immediately shot into the air, flapping its stubby wings as hard as it could. The Water Gun hit the Gym floor, and Marill looked up at Hoothoot. "Now Hoothoot, dive down and slam into it with a full-force Tackle attack!" The Owl Pokémon flipped in the air and started to dive down towards Marill.

"Hurry Marill, dodge it!" Lyra shouted, and Marill landed on the ground. Before Marill could jump up, however, Falkner's Hoothoot slammed into it, sending it bouncing backwards on the Gym floor. "Oh no, Marill! Try an Aqua Jet attack!" Marill leaped off the floor and water surrounded its body. Then, it shot at Hoothoot like a rocket, slamming into it as hard as it could. Hoothoot was surprised by the quick attack, but recovered fast, flapping its wings hard and staying aloft. "Aqua Jet again!"

"Hoothoot, don't let it strike you again! Use Peck attack to stop it in its tracks!" Falkner ordered, and Hoothoot flew straight at Marill as soon as water started surrounding its body. When Marill was about to shoot at the Owl Pokémon, it started pecking Marill's head with its beak repeatedly, making the water around Marill disappear as the Aqua Mouse Pokémon tried to block the attacks.

"Get it away with Tail Whip, Marill!" Marill nodded its head while trying to keep Hoothoot from pecking it, and it swung its tail, the light blue orb at the end of it slamming right into Hoothoot's side. Its breath was knocked out of it as Hoothoot sailed through the air. "Okay Marill, now use Rollout attack!" Lyra wasn't an experienced trainer, but she knew that Flying-types were weak against Rock-type attacks like Rollout. Marill was her best shot at beating Falkner. If she failed, then Chikorita would stand no chance, and Lyra would lose! _I'm not going to let that happen! _Lyra thought as Marill curled up into a ball and started rolling towards the falling Hoothoot.

"Hoothoot, get out of the way!" Falkner shouted. His call was a wake-up call to Hoothoot, and it opened its wings just in time, flapping out of the way as Marill rolled through the air, right over the side of the rooftop. Falkner gasped and pointed at Marill. "Hoothoot, grab it! Quickly!" Lyra, however, smirked.

"Marill, Water Gun now!" she ordered. Marill uncurled itself and blasted the spiral of water not at Hoothoot, but at a building next to the Gym. When the Water Gun hit it, the blast Marill backwards, slamming its body right into Hoothoot, who was flying to help Marill. As Marill stopped its Water Gun, it turned around and started rolling, slamming right into Hoothoot as it fell. Finally, Marill landed on the ground gracefully, and Hoothoot fell on the ground knocked out.

"Hoothoot!" Falkner exclaimed, and ran up to help his injured Pokémon.

"Hoothoot is unable to battle. Marill is the winner," the referee called.

"You battled tremendously, Hoothoot. You deserve a good rest." Falkner recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball and walked back to his side of the Gym. "You surprise me. Your Marill shows a great deal of courage if it can get itself back onto the roof without batting an eyelash," he complimented. Lyra giggled.

"We used to play 'King of the Playground' all the time when we were younger, so Marill would use that Water Gun rocket technique to get back onto it if she fell," she replied. "I'm not one to be underestimated."

"Neither am I," Falkner responded, taking out a Poké Ball. "Now, let me show you how strong my Flying Pokémon _really_ are!" Falkner tossed the Poké Ball and it flew through the air. After a moment (which seemed like forever to Lyra), the ball burst open and a large brown and white Pokémon came out of the Poké Ball. The bird had black markings around its eyes, and the yellow and red feathers on its head reached down to the base of its red tail feathers.

"Pidgeot, toh!" it called out, flapping its wings and taking to the sky. Lyra gulped as she pulled out her Pokédex.

"Oh god..." she mumbled as the Pokédex opened up. "**Pidgeot, the Bird Pok****é****mon.** **The evolved form of Pidgeotto, it can fly at twice the speed of sound at an altitude of nearly one mile."** "Twice the speed of sound?"

"Begin!" the referee called, and the drummer hit the taiko drum with the wooden stick, signaling the battle to begin.

"And now, you shall see how fast Pidgeot can fly first-hand!" Falkner shouted to Lyra. "Pidgeot, use Quick Attack now!" Pidgeot immediately turned towards Marill, and it started to fly down at it. Then, it became a brown and white streak and it shot at Marill, slamming into it as hard as it could. Marill went flying backwards, not stopping until Lyra caught it. When she looked down, Marill was knocked out from the attack.

"Pidgeot is the winner!" the referee called out. Lyra sighed, smiling at her Pokémon, and then recalling it into its Poké Ball.

_Great, now my only option is Chikorita. This isn't good, _she thought as she pulled out Chikorita's Poké Ball. "Chikorita, I choose you!" Lyra exclaimed, tossing Chikorita's Poké Ball onto the battlefield. The red and white sphere burst open, and Chikorita came out of the Poké Ball, ready to battle. Falkner seemed to narrow his eyes.

"Bad choice. Don't you know that Grass-type Pokémon don't stand a chance against Flying-types like Pidgeot?" he asked Lyra.

"Just make your move," she told him.

"Begin!" the referee cried, and the man behind him tapped the drum.

"If you still want to keep your Chikorita, that's fine by me. Pidgeot, use Wing Attack!" Falkner commanded. Pidgeot started to fly down towards Chikorita, opening its wings as it dove towards the Leaf Pokémon.

"Chikorita, we have to fight back! Use Razor Leaf!" Lyra ordered, and Chikorita swung its head. When it did, multiple razor-sharp green leaves came out of the large leaf on its head and shot at Pidgeot.

"Spin in the air and dodge the attack!" Falkner called. Pidgeot nodded, and when the leaves were about to hit, Pidgeot spun to the right like a fighter jet, dodging the attacks. After, it continued its course to attack Chikorita.

"Okay Chikorita, use PoisonPowder now!" Lyra shouted. Chikorita raised the leaf on its head and started to wave it back and forth. Out of the leaf, a sparkling purple powder came out and started floating towards where Pidgeot would fly right through.

"Pidgeot, stop! Use Whirlwind to blow away that powder!" Falkner instructed. At once, Pidgeot turned and spun around, stopping right in its tracks. It then started flapping its wings as hard as it could, and a powerful gust came out of them, blowing the powder away and making it disappear. "Quick Attack now!" Pidgeot did as it was told and continued diving down at Chikorita. This time, it sped up and slammed into the Grass-type Pokémon as hard as it could, sending it bouncing off the Gym floor. Pidgeot flew up, missing Lyra's hat by just inches and turned around to fly back to its side of the battlefield. Slowly, Chikorita started to get up. It was hurt, but determined.

"Chikorita!" Lyra called, worried about Chikorita's health.

"Chika, chikori!" it said back to its Trainer.

"Now Pidgeot, knock out that Grass Pokémon with your Wing Attack!" Falkner commanded. Pidgeot turned around and shot towards Chikorita once again. When Chikorita turned around to face Pidgeot, it was hit by the Bird Pokémon's wing. Chikorita bounced off the Gym floor once again. This time, however, it did not get up.

"Pidgeot is the winner!" the referee shouted, and Lyra ran up to her Chikorita.

"Chikorita, are you okay?" she asked it. Chikorita nodded slowly, and went to sleep in her arms.

"Are you giving up?" Falkner questioned her. Lyra nodded.

"I have no more Pokémon; I have no choice," she replied quietly. Falkner looked at his referee and nodded. The man with the red headband tapped the drum once more, and the referee raised his right hand.

"Lyra has no more Pokémon and is thus unable to battle! The winner of this match is the Gym Leader, Falkner!" he called out. Pidgeot landed next to its Trainer, and he petted its head.

"You battled extremely well, Pidgeot. I'm proud of you," he said, and then put the Bird Pokémon back into its Poké Ball. Falkner walked up to Lyra after he put away Pidgeot's Poké Ball and helped her up. She also recalled her Pokémon into its Poké Ball and smiled sadly at Falkner.

"I should have known that I would lose. You are _really_ powerful," she stated, and Falkner put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't be down. While you did lose, you still managed to impress me with that trick Marill did," Falkner replied, and Lyra smiled. Suddenly, she began to feel her eyes started to water and she quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of her shirt. "I recommend going out and getting stronger. Once you do, I will be waiting here for your return." The brunette nodded and smiled at Falkner. The two started walking towards the elevator, as Falkner's white robed posse murmured about the battle amongst themselves. "I recommend going to Azalea Town and battling the Gym there," he said as they got into the elevator and he pressed the down button. "It isn't far from here. Just go south from the city, and the path shall lead you right there." Lyra nodded her head once again.

"Azalea Town, eh? Okay then, that's where I'm going," she replied. "And you better be ready Falkner, because when I return, you and me are going to battle." Falkner smirked.

"I will be looking forward to it," he stated.

* * *

So, Lyra's first Gym Battle ends in a loss. Well, at least she's not down about it! Did the outcome of this surprise you at all? One of the main reasons why I like basing my stories off the anime and not the games. If I had based this off the games, then all Falkner would have had was a Pidgey and Pidgeotto. _Boring.~ _

Now, there's not much that I want to talk about, but there's one thing in particular I want to mention. I don't know how long this next chapter is going to take, and I'll probably be completed with it by the time this comes by. As most of you know, during the weekends, I go to camp. Not summer camp, but a camp like trailers and fireplaces... and s'mores. Every year, my family stays there for a whole week, and we don't come back until the next Sunday. So, from July 30th to August 8th, I will be at camp, and thus will be unable to write. I know, it stinks, but I need a break, lol. As soon as I come back, I will start writing once again, but I'm just giving you guys a heads up just in case I don't finish the next chapter in time.

Also, a lot of you have been telling me that you've had problems reading the last two chapters I've posted. This is probably a FF.N thing, so it might pass soon. Okay, now to thank my reviewers:

Thanks:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**Hotrod198**

**DragonforceX**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**pokemondude**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

Okay, that's it from me. Next chapter, Lyra meets a special guest, and together, they visit the Ruins of Alph. However, Lyra's clumsiness gets her into a 'hole' lot of trouble. Thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	9. Attack of the Unown!

_Now, before I start the chapter, I have an announcement to make. I'm going to be closing the OC guide forum before I leave for vacation. Now, if you're still making an OC, just tell me and I'll leave it open, but I'm starting to run out of room for places to put OCs, so I'm going to have to stop it. Of course, you're still free to make me OCs, they will just be used in the Pokémon League. I have basically set all of the OCs on where they're going to be in the story as well, so keep your eyes out for them! Anyways, enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Ethan.

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Lyra woke up the next morning fully energized. Yesterday had been a relaxing day, despite her loss at the Violet Gym against Falkner. She felt her Pokémon deserved a good rest after the hard battling they did, so they spent the day walking and exploring Violet City and its beautiful buildings. Eventually, they came across the Pokémon Academy, and after the teacher, Miss Priscilla, saw Lyra walking around with her Marill, she invited her into the school, where the kids played with her and her Pokémon. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, especially Chikorita, who loved the attention the female children gave her. A lot of the boys kept asking Lyra if she had an Onix or a Beedrill, but Lyra unfortunately had to tell them no. Eventually, the sun had set, and it was time for the children to go home. Miss Priscilla thanked Lyra for keeping the children company, and Lyra walked into the Pokémon Center. As soon as she dropped off her Pokémon and her head hit the pillow of the rented bed, she drifted right to sleep.

However, today, Lyra was ready to head out to Azalea Town. Azalea Town was the next town that had a Pokémon Gym, and Lyra felt she needed to get stronger in order to challenge Falkner again. After stretching out a crick in her back, she quickly got dressed and headed to the Pokémon Center lobby to pick up her Pokémon who were resting comfortably with Nurse Joy. Lyra always found it funny how no matter how early she got up and went to a Pokémon Center, Nurse Joy would always be at the front counter. When the pink-haired nurse saw Lyra walk out, she smiled. "Good morning Lyra. Did you sleep well?"

"I slept like a Geodude, Nurse Joy," Lyra responded, and they both giggled.

"Good. Your Pokémon slept well as well, and they are rearing to go. Are you going to try and battle Falkner again?" Nurse Joy questioned as she got up and pressed a button on her desk. "Blissey, I need Lyra's Poké Balls, please."

"No. He told me I should get stronger before I battle him again. I'm going to Azalea Town and challenge the Gym Leader there." A Blissey, who was wearing a nurse's cap exactly like Nurse Joy's, came out from the back doors, holding a tray with two Poké Balls on it. The Happiness Pokémon handed the tray to Nurse Joy, who then handed the Poké Balls to Lyra.

"Well, either way, I hope you succeed in your travels. And thank you for staying at the Violet City Pokémon Center," Nurse Joy stated, and smiled sweetly at Lyra.

"Thanks for having me!" Lyra replied, and started strolling towards the doors and she took out her PokéGear. "I suppose I'll give Prof. Elm a call." After scrolling down her contacts, she stopped at the number titled 'Prof. Elm' and pressed the call button. The phone rang a couple times, and on the talk screen, Prof. Elm's face appeared.

"Hello, Professor Elm speaking."

"Hi, Professor!" Lyra exclaimed, waving to him through the PokéGear.

"Ah, Lyra! I take it you won your battle since you're so happy today," he assumed.

"No, I lost. Falkner wiped the floor with me," Lyra responded, and Elm looked at Lyra with an eyebrow raised. "But, he told me to get stronger and to challenge other Gym leaders. That's what I'm going to do." Prof. Elm nodded through the screen.

"Where are you heading towards now?"

"I'm going to Azalea Town. Falkner says there's a Gym Leader there that I could challenge," Lyra answered. "Also, I'm hoping Silver went this way. I looked around the city yesterday, but I haven't seen him since Sprout Tower the other day."

"You'll find him eventually, I'm sure," Elm encouraged. "Hey, if you're going to Azalea Town, you're planning on going down Route 32, right?" Lyra nodded her head up and down in response. "Excellent! There's a place to the west of Route 32 called the Ruins of Alph. I highly recommend visiting it, because it will certainly help you understand the world of Pokémon and a lot of the things around you. I once took a trip there myself not too long ago, and I found it quite exhilarating to see all the different kinds of ancient symbols from way back in the times where-"

"Okay Professor, I understand. I'll visit for a little bit, okay?" Lyra asked, cutting him off. She usually did when he would start rambling about things. The brown haired Professor nodded, then started rambling to himself again. "Well, I'll talk to you later Professor!" she shouted, quickly hanging up and taking a deep sigh. "That man sure can talk a lot. I wouldn't be surprised if he was still talking over there. Well, I suppose I'll visit the Ruins of Alph. It'll be like a small field trip!" Suddenly, Lyra felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to see a beautiful woman dressed in a long lilac colored dress. On her feet, she wore dark purple dress shoes, and she had dark purple hair that was tied up into a ponytail on the back of her head. Her beautiful eyes, that were cerulean blue, looked at Lyra with elegance and peace. She wore red lipstick, and draped around her body was a white and purple pocketbook.

"Excuse me, did you say you were going to the Ruins of Alph?" she asked in a sweet and calm voice. Although Lyra had never seen the girl before, something about her face seem oddly familiar. The lady bowed, pulling the sides of her dress up slightly and curtsying. "My name is Frieda. I would be honored if I could accompany you to the Ruins." Lyra smiled at the girl.

"Hey Frieda, the name's Lyra," she introduced, and clumsily curtsied herself. "I'm a Pokémon Trainer." Frieda chuckled a little.

"Yes, I had guess that when you were conversing with the world famous Prof. Elm," she responded. "I like ancient artifacts myself. I like to go around and see if I can find objects from back in ancient times." Frieda noticed Lyra's eyes going up and down her apparel and she smiled. "I know what you're thinking: How am I going to look through ancient ruins in a dress, right?" Lyra nodded. "I get that a lot, but this isn't the first time I've gone into those ruins, so I'll be fine." Lyra looked at her a bit more, then shrugged. "Shall we get going?"

"Sure, but first, I want to introduce you to someone!" Lyra answered, and tossed a Poké Ball into the air, releasing her Marill from the ball. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon landed on Lyra's shoulder, and climbed down onto her bag, holding onto her arm. "Frieda, this is Marill. Marill, this is Frieda, she's going to be staying with us for a while." Marill looked at the indigo haired girl and smiled.

"Hello Marill," she said to it. Finally, the two started their way towards the Ruins of Alph.

o 0 o

"So, how long until we get to the Ruins of Alph?" Lyra asked Frieda, who was walking along side her.

"Not long now. We should make it there in a couple minutes if we keep at this pace," she replied. Lyra stared at her for a moment.

"Frieda, have we met before somewhere? You look awfully familiar to me." Frieda looked at Lyra with confused cerulean eyes, then smiled sweetly.

"You've probably met one of my brothers or sisters," Frieda responded. "Despite our very different appearances, people always tend to say that about us when they've seen another one."

"That might be it. What are your brothers' and sisters' names? Maybe I've met one of them, and that's why!"

"Well, I have six other brothers and sisters. First there's Monica, she's the oldest, then there's Tuscany and-"

"Wait, Tuscany? You mean like blond, ditzy Tuscany? _She's_ your sister?" Lyra exclaimed.

"Ah, so you _have_ met one of us," Frieda mumbled to herself. "It's very unfortunate you met Tuscany first. She's not the... sharpest item in the bag, to put it lightly. I'm sorry if my older sister caused you any misfortune."

"Oh, no, she was no problem. She was just... a little strange, that's all!" Frieda smiled and chuckled.

"Miss Lyra, are you an only child?" she asked.

"How'd you know? Don't tell me you're a whack-o as well!"

"No. If you had siblings, you'd know how... difficult it is to cope with them sometimes. Tuscany is the second child, and there's always something about the second child that makes them the shiny Mareep of the family." Lyra laughed out loud.

"I think that's an understatement for your sister," she said, and Frieda smiled back. Suddenly, the bushes behind them started shaking, and Lyra jumped up, while Frieda whipped around, taking a Poké Ball from out of nowhere and pressing the button to make it bigger. From out of the bushes, a yellow and blue Pokémon with a long yellow and black striped tail came out. "That thing scared the living daylights out of me!"

"That's a Mareep. Nothing to be afraid of," Frieda sighed, putting her Poké Ball into her purse. Lyra took a deep breath to try and calm down her beating heart, and took out her Pokédex. **"Mareep, the Wool Pokémon. Mareep stores static electricity in their woolly coat. They avoid battle and have mild dispositions."**

"Aw, it's so cute!" Lyra shouted. Immediately, when she shouted, it startled the Pokémon, and caused it to run back into the bushes. "Oops..."

"It doesn't matter. Here we are!" Frieda announced, and Lyra turned around. Out in the horizon, to the right of them, there was a large canyon. On the side of the canyon walls, there were large square structures that almost looked like ancient buildings. There seemed to be many people and trucks in the canyon as well, digging into the side of it. Way off in the distance was a large dome-like building, which Lyra guessed was a headquarters for the archaeologists working at the ruins.

"No way..." Lyra muttered to herself as her and Frieda started traveling down to see the ruins. There were so many ancient things here. Off in the corner, Lyra could see a group of scientists digging out a strange fossil that looked like a spiral shell. On the other side, archaeologists were trying brushing away some dirt at some ancient rocks they found. The rocks looked to have some type of symbols on them. "I didn't think I would like it here much, but I'm pretty amazed at the artifacts!" Frieda nodded.

"Don't you feel like you were just teleported back in time?" Frieda asked. "I remember the first time I came here, I found this." Frieda stopped and reached into her purse. Then, she pulled out a long pink and lilac colored object that looked like an arrow of some sort. "This Poison Barb was used way back in the day as weapons. The cavemen used to dip the tips in the venom of an Arbok and toss it at their prey." Lyra stared at the object in amazement, then looked behind her. Embedded in the rock was what looked like a sculpture of a clay figurine of a Feraligatr.

"Oh wow! Look Frieda! It's so cute!" she exclaimed, running up to it.

"Wait, Lyra, don't step close to it! That ground looks-" Frieda shouted, but she was too late. As soon as Lyra got a foot away from the small clay figure, the ground collapsed under her and she plummeted down into the ground.

o 0 o

Lyra felt the rush of pain run up and down her back and buttocks, then the stab of pain around her whole body as she landed on a pile of rocks. "That wasn't comfy," she muttered, and slowly sat up, the pain screaming out, then slowing down as the rocks fell out. As she stood up, she examined her surroundings. She seemed to be in a large chamber-like room, made of clay or brick. All around her were strange symbols. The only light in the room was coming from the hole Lyra made, and the musty smell invaded her nostrils almost as soon as she could breath. "Well, at least we're alright, right Marill?" When she got no response, she bit her lip and called out her Pokémon's name. "Marill!" Above her, a shadow loomed over, and she looked up to see Frieda.

"Lyra, are you alright?" she shouted down, which echoed in the chamber.

"Yes, I am, but I don't know where my Marill is!" Lyra called back.

"Hang on, I'm coming down!" Frieda stepped back and there was a flash of light. Then, Frieda appeared once again and she started to float down the hole, gracefully landing next to Lyra.

"You can float?" Lyra asked in disbelief. Frieda giggled.

"No, I had help from a friend," she replied, and turned to back towards Lyra. On her back, a small green spider-like Pokémon with dark blue face-like markings on its abdomen was spitting string from its mouth. When Frieda landed, it bit the string with its red mandibles. "Thank you, Spinarak." The face on its abdomen smiled, and the Pokémon happily responded.

"That thing's pretty cool to be able to hold you like that!" Lyra stated, and took out her Pokédex, pointing it at the green Pokémon. **"Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon. Spinarak can climb any surface easily, and shoot a strong web from both the front and back of its body. Its prey is caught and held tight in its web."**

"Lyra, what happened to your arm?" Frieda asked, examining it through squinted eyes. Lyra looked down and noticed her left arm was dripping with blood.

"Oh man! I didn't even feel this happen! It's gushing with blood!" Lyra shouted, freaking out. Her shouts echoed throughout the hallway.

"Calm down, Lyra. Worrying will make things worse. I can get my Spinarak to use String Shot to help it, but it won't stop the bleeding, and it might even go through the silk," Frieda said calmly, looking at Spinarak. The String Spit Pokémon's face on its abdomen frowned sadly. Suddenly, both girls jumped up when all throughout the cavern, they heard, "Reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!" When they looked up, they saw a head poking out of the corner of the hole Lyra fell in, and out of the blue, a Mareep jumped down the hole, landing on Lyra. The brunette fell to the ground with a thud as the Wool Pokémon landed on her.

"Great. We better get that hole fixed, otherwise, we're going to be surrounded by wild Pokémon," Lyra mumbled as the Mareep got off of her.

"Lyra, I think this is the same Mareep from earlier! The one that poked its head out of the bushes," Frieda stated. "It must have followed us here." Mareep looked at Lyra with its bright black eyes and waited for her to get up. Then, it circled around her and jumped up, resting its two front legs on Lyra's lap. With its blue nose, it nuzzled Lyra's hurt arm. "It must be worried about your arm."

"I'll be fine, Mareep. Or I will be once Frieda has her Spinarak put its String Shot over it," Lyra said to it, petting its head. Mareep got down and looked intently at Lyra. Then, it started bleating, and its body became surrounded by a teal colored glow. The glow started coming off Mareep's body in waves, and the waves surrounded Lyra's body, and her body started to glow teal as well. Suddenly, Lyra felt her arm getting better, and she looked down to see the wound on her arm starting to heal. "Mareep is... healing me?"

"I think it's using Heal Bell. It's a rare move for a Mareep to have, but with it, Mareep can heal the wounds of people and Pokémon," Frieda explained as the glow faded from both Lyra and Mareep, and the wound on Lyra's forearm was gone completely.

"Thanks so much, Mareep!" Lyra thanked, flexing her arm to show that it was better. However, Mareep looked at Frieda's Spinarak and started talking to it.

"Mareep, reeep, reep, Maar!" it bleated, and Spinarak started mumbling back.

"Spina, spinarak." After the two started talking for a bit, Spinarak faced Lyra and shot a thick white string from its mouth at Lyra's arm. Lyra squealed out a bit, since she thought she was being attacked, but then stopped herself when the string wrapped around her arm where the cut had been.

"I guess that's to keep it from happening again," Frieda chuckled.

"You're going to have to cover my whole body if you don't want me to hurt myself," Lyra added, and started laughing to herself. Mareep, on the other hand, looked at Spinarak and started talking to it. "No, no! I was just kidding!" Mareep nodded and nuzzled Lyra's leg. "Aw, you're so cute! But I can't do anything about it right now. My Marill is lost!"

"I'll help you look for it, okay?" Lyra nodded, and the group started to move down the chamber.

o 0 o

Marill was starting to get worried. She had been separated from Lyra for a while now. She could hear exceptionally well, thanks to being a Marill, but this chamber was so empty, the voices sounded like they were coming from everywhere at once. "Marill, Mair..." she mumbled to herself, and started straining her ears to hear her Trainer. Instead of voices, however, she started hearing squeaks and fluttering. "Marill?" It started trotting down the hallway some, and the squeaking started to get louder. Then, from out of nowhere, Marill was surrounded by black.

o 0 o

"It's a good thing this Mareep followed us, isn't it?" Lyra asked, smiling at the Wool Pokémon as it led the way. The yellow orb at the end of its tail was glowing yellow. According to Frieda, Mareep was using Flash attack, an attack used to light dark corridors like this place.

"Very much so. I find it strange that a wild Mareep has such a variety of attacks, though," Frieda mumbled. The brunette next to her shrugged.

"It'll help looking for Marill quicker. Without Flash, we would be strolling around in the dark right now," she explained, and Frieda nodded her head in agreement. Suddenly, Mareep stopped, and both her and Frieda's Spinarak's heads perked up. "What do you two hear?"

"Wait, I hear it now, too!" Frieda whispered, and stopped in her tracks. Lyra stopped and strained her ears to listen for an unusual sound. Finally, she could hear it.

"Oh, _now_ I hear it! It sounds like squeaking or fluttering," Lyra muttered. "Do you think it's Rattata or Sentret?" The lilac haired girl shook her head in response.

"No, their cries are different. Plus, how many wild Pokémon have we seen down here?" she responded.

"None... I guess you're right. But what could be making that noise? What if it's attacking Marill!" Lyra shouted, taking off in a run. "I'm coming Marill!"

"Lyra, wait!" Frieda exclaimed, then started running after the younger girl, with Mareep following behind, running as fast as its legs would take it.

o 0 o

The black creatures spun around Marill, looking at her with angry red eyes. Marill tried to move, but when she did, the creatures shot red lasers from its eyes, blasting the spot in front of her. "Marill, Mair!" she shouted, getting angry at them. The creatures continued to squeak at Marill, but they were all talking at once, she couldn't understand any of them. Marill had it, and she took a deep breath, blasting in front of her with a Water Gun attack. As soon as she did, the creatures sped out of the way of the attack, and ones behind her fired red lasers at her, slamming the Aqua Mouse Pokemon against the ground.

"Marill!" Lyra shouted once again, stopping immediately when she saw her Pokémon surrounded by a spinning black dome. Marill got up and turned around. When she saw her Trainer, it started cheering loudly. However, this caught the creatures' attention, and they all turned towards Lyra, Frieda, and Mareep. "What are those things?"

"I-I have no clue!" Frieda exclaimed. Most of the creatures were different shaped, and they were all black, except with one angry red eye that for most of them was in the center of their body. Lyra quickly whipped out her Pokédex and pointed it at the strange floating objects. **"Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown use telepathy to communicate with each other. Many different shapes of Unown have been discovered."** "There are tons of them!" Frieda exclaimed as Lyra put away her Pokédex into her bag.

"I know, but we have to save Marill!" Lyra stated, taking out a Poké Ball. "Chikorita!" As the Poké Ball opened up and Chikorita appeared in front of Lyra, Mareep jumped out as well, crouching down and ready for battle.

"Spinarak, get ready to battle!" Frieda said to it, and the Pokémon nodded, crawling down its Trainer's arm with its six yellow legs and jumping down next to Chikorita.

"We don't want to have to attack you, Unown! Just let Marill go, and we'll recall our Pokémon!" However, the Unown stood in their position, staring at them with their one eye. "Marill, try and get away!" Marill nodded and slowly started to walk towards its Trainer, but two Unown fired red lasers from their eyes, knocking Marill back. The beams exploded when they hit the brick floor.

"That's a powerful Hidden Power attack. We have to be careful, Lyra," Frieda mentioned. "Spinarak, Poison Sting now!" At its Trainer's command, Spinarak jumped into the air and fired multiple white needles from its mouth.

"Chikorita, use Razor Leaf attack!" Lyra commanded. Chikorita jumped into the air, following Spinarak, and swung the leaf on its head, firing multiple razor sharp leaves from it at the Unown. Mareep attacked as well, yellow sparks appearing around its ears and firing a stream of light blue electricity at the Unown as well. The attacks struck many of the Symbol Pokémon, but more of them covered the hurt ones, firing red lasers from their eyes at the Pokémon in front of them. Chikorita and Mareep managed to dodge the attacks, but Spinarak wasn't fast enough and was blasted by the attack. Spinarak landed on its back, but got back up slowly.

"For each Unown, Hidden Power is a different type. Out of all these Unown, there's a pretty big chance that at least one of them know a Hidden Power that's strong against our Pokémon," Frieda explained, running up to Spinarak and helping it up. "Night Shade attack!" Spinarak nodded and the white horn on its head started to glow black. Then, it fired a beam of darkness from it at a group of Unown, knocking them out instantly.

"Hurry Marill, use Aqua Jet now!" Lyra called. Marill's body became surrounded by spinning water, and she shot through the wall of Unown, landing happily in Lyra's arms. "I'm so glad you're alright. You are, aren't you?" Marill looked happily at her Trainer and nodded. Seeing Marill get away, however, got the Unown steaming mad, and they started firing Hidden Power attacks rapidly and randomly. Each blast would put a hole in the stone walls, and both girls ducked to avoid getting hit with falling rocks.

"Lyra, tell Mareep to use Heal Bell on the Unown!" Frieda shouted while still covering her head.

"Why, they aren't hurt, just psycho!" Lyra replied back, jumping out of the way of another Hidden Power blast.

"I hear that Heal Bell can be used to calm down raging Pokémon! We have to at least try it, unless you'd rather be buried underneath one hundred pounds of rubble?"

"Good point..." Lyra mumbled. "Mareep, use your Heal Bell on all the Unown. Try and get them to calm down!" Mareep nodded and its body started to glow teal like before. Then, it started bleating, and waves of teal started pulsing off its body. When the waves reached the Unown, it didn't seem to affect them at first. But as soon as their bodies started to glow the same color as Mareep's, the beams seemed to be less powerful, and slower. Finally, they stopped altogether, and the Unown started looking around, their eyes white once again. Lyra let out a big sigh, and she recalled Marill and Chikorita into their Poké Balls. "Thank god that's over with. Good thinking, Frieda." The brunette looked up to see the Unown floating around the two girls, chanting and chirping in happiness. An Unown that resembled the letter 'G' floated up to Lyra and closed its eye happily at her. Then, it reached out it appendage and touched her shoulder, and Lyra immediately closed her eyes.

When she next opened them, she was standing in a world of emptiness. All around her, everything was gray and hazy. She must have been standing in front of a mirror, too, because she saw herself in front of her. The strange thing was, her reflection wasn't standing in the same position that she was. Suddenly, her reflection waved at her. "Whoa, I think I'm going nuts, here," Lyra muttered to herself, holding her head in her hands.

"No you're not," the other Lyra said, in the exact same voice as her. "I'm talking to you telepathically, from your mind." The real Lyra raised one of her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes.

"And who exactly are _you_?"

"I'm the Unown!" she piped up, and Lyra gaped for a minute.

"If you're the Unown, then why are you using my body to speak to me. It's kinda freaking me out." The Lyra-Unown creature shrugged in the same mannerism as Lyra would if _she_ shrugged.

"You don't understand my language; how else am I going to thank you?" she said.

"Touché," Lyra muttered. "Anyways, why'd you attack us like that? You almost got us killed!" Unown took its hand and rubbed the back of its neck just like Lyra would if she was embarrassed.

"Sorry 'bout that. Think about it though. If you were asleep for a thousand years and you were rudely interrupted, wouldn't you be as grumpy as an Ursaring as well?" it replied. "Anyways, I speak for all my kind when I say I am truly sorry for attacking you. Another Unown is apologizing to your friend Frieda, and saying thank you to Mareep as well."

"It's no problem! But we fell in here on accident, so-"

"There's no need to explain. We already know the whole story. When you wake up, you'll be back on the ground. Just make sure to be careful where you're walking from now on, okay?" Lyra nodded, and the other Lyra smiled. "Good. Now, see you later!" Out of nowhere, everything started turning white, and Lyra had to close her eyes it was so bright. When she next opened her eyes, there were archeologists crowded around her, Frieda, and Mareep, making sure everyone was okay.

* * *

Pretty creepy chapter if I don't say so myself. Not as creepy as the Sabrina one from my last story, but pretty close. Anyways, this chapter came out pretty good for me having writer's block when I sat down to write it.

Now, all of you know that I'm going to be gone for a week, right? Well, there's been a change of plans, and I will be gone for 2 weeks, most likely. So this'll be the last chapter for a while. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed it.

Also, I'm going to be closing the OC guide forum before I leave for vacation. Now, if you're still making an OC, just tell me and I'll leave it open, but I'm starting to run out of room for places to put OCs, so I'm going to have to stop it. Of course, you're still free to make me OCs, they will just be used in the Pokémon League. I have basically set all of the OCs on where they're going to be in the story as well, so keep your eyes out for them! Now, to thank the reviewers:

Thanks:

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**Zeta Dimento**

**Hotrod198**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**arkee**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**TheDeavil**

**Nianque**

**Harbinger of Houndoom**

**pokemondude**

**JapanDreamer09**

Okay, that's it. Next chapter, Lyra goes through Union Cave with a certain Oc of mine. Also, she gets a new Pokémon. I bet you can't imagine which one it is :) Anyways, see you in a while. I wish my laptop had Internet connection so I could stay in touch with all of you. Thanks for reading/reviewing, and see you next chapter, guys!


	10. Violence and Embarrassment

_Okay guys. This chapter is a special one, because it introduces an OC. But, for those who don't know, my computer was erased without my knowledge, so I lost some data. Okay, a lot of data. And I lost all the places where the OCs will be showing up. So I'll have to redo that again. Which will take some time. Also, if you guys have any ideas of anything you want to see, like a tournament or something, let me know! I was thinking of doing some sort of Whirl Cup like in the anime, but Lyra might not have all that much Water Pokémon. Maybe one or two? Who knows. Anyways, enjoy the chapter._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra, Ethan, or Marill.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

"I'm sorry you didn't get to see anything amazing. It's all my fault," Lyra apologized. Her, Marill, the wild Mareep, who had been very useful throughout their little journey in the ruins below, and Frieda were sitting in the Archeologist's lounge, relaxing and having a drink of lemonade after their encounter with the Unown. Fearing for the Unowns' safety, they had to lie, saying they never encountered any creatures down there.

"It's quite alright, Lyra. I actually had a good time. Except for being attacked by rampaging Unown, of course," Frieda replied. "And I have some great stories to tell when I get back to my family!" Lyra's darkened face suddenly brightened up.

"Really?" she exclaimed, and Frieda nodded.

"Yes. But, I think it's time for me to leave. I have a date tonight, so I must be ready by 5," she supposed. "It was really nice meeting you, Miss Lyra." They both stood up and shook hands.

"Nice meeting you too, Frieda. Have fun on your date!" Lyra answered, and with that, Frieda left, leaving Lyra, Marill, and Mareep sitting on the couch. The brunette then looked down at the Water and Electric Pokémon. The two were eating from a bowl of Pokémon food provided to them by the archeologists who rescued them. "You know, Mareep, I can't believe that you're still around. You're a wild Pokémon, aren't you? Why don't you go be in the wild?" Mareep looked briefly up at Lyra before resuming to its meal. A man who looked to be around forty dressed in a tan outfit with short rifle green hair walked up to her.

"Hello miss. I hope you're feeling okay," he said to her. When Lyra nodded, he looked down at her two Pokémon. "And I judge you two are good as well?" Both Marill and Mareep uttered a response to him, and finished up their food. "Are you sure you didn't get too hurt down there? We can always call Nurse Joy and have her check up on you, you know?"

"I'm fine, really!" Lyra retorted. "But I would like to know how to get to Azalea Town from here, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. You just have to go south from here. Once you reach the end of Route 32, there's a cave called Union Cave. Once you get through that, Azalea Town is right around the corner."

"Great, thanks so much, mister! Okay Marill, you ready to head out?" Marill nodded and jumped up on Lyra's arm. Mareep bleated and stood up, walking next to Lyra and rubbing on her leg. "Aw, alright. I'll walk you outside, okay?" She craned her neck to look at the man. "Thanks so much for everything. I've really enjoyed my trip here." The man waved to her and Lyra marched out the door.

o 0 o

After exiting the Ruins of Alph, Lyra wandered back onto Route 32, and back to the place where she first saw Mareep. "Here we are, Mareep. This is where we found you earlier," she happily said to the Wool Pokémon. The Pokémon took a few steps forward, but then turned around and looked sadly at Lyra.

"Mareep, reeep..." it muttered.

"What's the matter, don't you want to be with your friends?"

"It looks like it wants to be friends with _you._" A boy with cut military style black hair under a blue Pokémon League hat who had been watching the scene from afar walked up to Lyra. He wore a bright red t-shirt and he had on long dark green pants, with zippers going all the way around them along the knees. Immediately, Lyra noticed a silver necklace around his neck, and attached to it was a red and white Poké Ball.

"Pardon?" Lyra asked, surprised by the boy's sudden appearance.

"I said it seems that Mareep over there likes you. I think you ought to catch it," he stated, checking the black Pokétch on his wrist to check the time quickly.

"Catch it?" Lyra repeated, and pondered over the idea for a moment. "Mareep, do you want to come along with me?" The yellow and blue sheep Pokémon nodded its little head vigorously and started jumping up and down. "Well, okay! Then it's settled!" Lyra just stood there for a while, until finally the boy spoke up.

"Um, are you going to catch it, or what?" Lyra looked at him like he had three heads.

"You catch it in a Poké Ball, right?" she inquired. This time, it was the boy who looked at Lyra like she was from another planet. "Well, I've never caught a Pokémon before. And both of the Pokémon I have already came with their own Poké Balls." The boy's sky blue eyes stared at the brunette in disbelief. Then, he sighed and took out an empty Poké Ball from his pocket and pressed the silver button in the middle to make it bigger.

"Just make the Poké Ball bigger, throw it, and it should be caught," he explained. "Normally you'd have to weaken it with another Pokémon, but it looks like the little guy will go along willingly."

"Sounds easy enough," Lyra muttered, and opened up her bag to search through it. Suddenly, she froze and started laughing nervously at the young boy. "I seem to have misplaced my extra Poké Balls. Oopsie." The boy face palmed himself and tossed Lyra the Poké Ball he was holding in his hand. The novice Trainer was caught by surprise by the throw, fumbled with the ball, almost dropping it and juggling it around before she finally caught it.

_What am I dealing with here?_ he thought as he watched the strange girl sigh with relief.

"Okay, so now... I toss the ball!" she shouted, and tossed the Poké Ball. It sailed through the air and slammed against a tree, missing Mareep completely. The ball opened and fell to the ground uselessly.

"You're suppose to _hit_ the Pokémon, you know..." the boy muttered to Lyra.

"It doesn't have a tracking device in it?" Lyra questioned. The boy shook his head.

"You should try _aiming,_" he replied, and put his hands behind his head nonchalantly.

"Aw, man! I was so bad in gym class!" Lyra complained, and awkwardly ran over to where the opened Poké Ball was sitting on the ground. She closed the Poké Ball and once again tossed it. This time, the Poké Ball hit the Wool Pokémon. When it did, the Poké Ball opened like when it hit the tree, but Mareep's body started to turn red, and was instantly sucked into the Poké Ball. It fell to the ground and started to shake. "Is it caught yet?" The boy shook his head once again and pointed to the ball as it started to shake. The usually silver button was flashing red, and the whole ball was shaking. Finally, the ball dinged, and silver sparkles came off it.

"Now it is," he stated. Lyra squealed with happiness and scooped up the ball in her hands.

"We caught Mareep, Marill!" she exclaimed, showing the Aqua Mouse the Poké Ball.

"Marril!" the Water Pokémon replied. The brunette then turned to face the boy.

"Talk about good timing! If you hadn't shown up, who knows _what_ would have happened!"

"It's fine. I'm always willing to help a fellow Pokémon Trainer. Did you just start?"

"Kinda. I just started my journey, but I've had my Marill since I was ten. I'm twelve right now," Lyra replied.

"Really? I am, too. I just started too. I'm Zed, from Cinnabar Island." The boy stuck out his right hand, waiting for Lyra to shake it.

"The name's Lyra, from New Bark Town," she introduced, and shook Zed's hand. "Cinnabar Island, huh? That's all the way in the Kanto region!"

"Yeah. Very good for someone who never went to Pokémon Trainer's School," he commented.

"Oh, I've been to Pokémon Trainer's School." Zed looked at the other Trainer in surprise. "I was just _really_ bad in Gym class. I don't think anyone wanted to be on my team back then." Lyra giggled at her comment like it was no big deal. Not wanting to continue this awkward conversation, Zed quickly changed the subject.

"So are you heading to Azalea Town, or to Violet City?" he asked.

"I'm going to Azalea. There's a Gym there that I want to enter," she replied.

"Ah, so you're challenging Gyms too, huh?" Lyra's brown eyes lit up.

"Yes! I just started, though. How many badges do you have?" Zed took out a black badge case and opened it up, revealing a silver badge that looked like a pair of wings. "Cool, which Gym Badge is that from?"

"Violet City's Gym," he replied bluntly, and put the case away.

"You beat Falkner?" Zed nodded.

"I have a couple Pokémon that are good against Flying-types. It wasn't a piece of cake, but my Pokémon are... aggressive," he replied. "I'm guessing you got beat?"

"He wiped the floor with me," Lyra muttered.

"Well, now that you have Mareep, you should be all set. Electric-type Pokémon are really good against Flying-types," Zed explained. "Anyways, I'm heading to Azalea Town also. Any chance you want to accompany me?"

"Sure! What do you think, Marill?" Marill nodded in response and the two Trainers started following the path that lead down Route 32.

"I'm surprised that now since you have Mareep you don't want to go back and challenge Falkner again," Zed said to Lyra.

"I want to train Mareep first before I challenge him. I think the Azalea Gym will do nicely," she replied.

"Don't be so sure. I wouldn't take the Gym Leaders lightly if I was you. Especially since you lost to Falkner." Lyra stopped in her tracks for a moment before jogging to catch up with Zed.

"I guess you're right. But I still can't help but look forward to my match!" Lyra sighed and after figuring that Zed wasn't going to say much else, decided to change the subject. "So you beat Falkner, right? You must be a strong Trainer. But you said earlier that you just started out as a Trainer."

"I have aggressive Pokémon. Plus, I have an Electric-type," he replied.

"How many Pokémon do you have?"

"Four right now. But when I came to Johto, I had three on me."

"When I challenged Falkner, I only had two Pokémon, so I was forced to forfeit when Chikorita fainted," Lyra said. The conversation was dropped there, and the two continued down the path for a while. Finally, they reached a small Pokémon Center outside of Union Cave.

"We're going into the cave, right?" Zed asked.

"Actually, do you mind if we check out the Pokémon Center really quick? I want to check if someone's been through here," Lyra replied.

"Are you looking for someone?" The brunette slowly nodded, wondering if she should involve her new friend in her dilemma.

"Just a friend!" she lied, and skipped to the Pokémon Center doors, the automatic sensors reading her movements and opening for her. Marill, meanwhile, was holding onto her Trainer as tightly as she could so she wouldn't get bounced off. Zed wondered if the girl he was currently traveling with was holding back any secrets from him, but then that thought diminished when she tripped on a Trainer's backpack and fell flat on her face.

"Are you alright?" Nurse Joy exclaimed as she ran out from behind the counter to help Lyra up.

"I'm fine. This happens a lot," she replied, slowly getting up and wiping dust off her clothes. She then noticed all the Trainer's eyes in the little Pokémon Center staring at her from all around, and her face suddenly turned as red as a Tomato Berry. With her head down, her and Nurse Joy walked back to the front desk.

"You're sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Nurse Joy!" She assured the pink-haired nurse by waving her arms around in the air. _Most people in this Pokémon Center probably think I'm a lunatic..._ she thought, and stopped waving her arms. Lyra noticed Zed in the corner of the Center snickering to himself. "I need to ask you something, though, if you don't mind."

"Of course not. What would you like to know?"

"Well, I was wondering if a boy with long red hair has come in here lately?" Lyra asked. Nurse Joy thought for a minute.

"No, I haven't seen anyone like that around here lately. Is he a friend of yours?" Lyra laughed nervously.

"Yeah, friend... sure..." she mumbled to herself. "Okay, well then how about a boy with a yellow and black cap on his head. He usually wears it backwards, and he has a Cyndaquil." A flash of recognition came across Nurse Joy's eyes as she recognized the description.

"A Trainer like that was here a while ago. He didn't stay long, just long enough to get his Cyndaquil healed and he was gone." she replied.

"It's possible that Silver skipped this Pokémon Center and headed right into Union Cave. It definitely seems like something that bully would do..."

"Did you say something?" Joy asked. Lyra jumped up in surprise.

"I said that out loud?" When the Pokémon Nurse nodded, Lyra mentally slapped herself and walked away without saying a word. _Why do I keep embarrassing myself like this?_

"You find what you were looking for?" Zed asked as she passed by him to leave the Center. He had to run to catch up to her.

"Yes... and I also found out that everyone in that Center now thinks I'm a lunatic!" she yelled, sighing afterwards. "I did bring it upon myself, though. I just can never step foot back into that Pokémon Center again." Zed laughed.

"I know exactly how you feel," he replied, and the two walked into the cave in front of them.

o 0 o

Lyra had never been inside a cave before, and she hated it already. The inside was dark, and the air felt very moist and heavy. Not only that, but Lyra couldn't see her Marill hanging right off her arm. Since Marill would always wonder off, Lyra always had to keep an eye on it. Not being able to see her Marill made that very difficult. After walking as far as they could using the light from the opening of the cave, Lyra sighed and took out her PokéGear, the small light from the screen slightly illuminating the darkness. "It's so dark, I can hardly see a thing!" Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "Hey, Mareep has Flash! He could light things up!" Lyra reached into her pack to grab her Pokemon's Poké Ball when Zed put out his arm.

"I'll light things up. Don't worry," he said, and took off the Poké Ball that hung on the chain around his neck. "Okay Flare, go!" When Zed's Poké Ball opened, the white flash of light lit up the cave briefly before the Pokémon formed out of the light. In front of Zed and Lyra stood a medium sized red lizard-like Pokémon. On the end of its tail was a flame, destroying the darkness around them.

"Char," it mumbled. Shining in the light of its tail flame, a Fire Stone hung around the Pokemon's neck, held by a thin black string to hold it in place.

"Wow, it's so cool!" Lyra exclaimed, and took out her Pokédex to find out what it was. **"Charmeleon, the Flame Pokémon. It has razor sharp claws and its tail is exceptionally strong."**

"Hey Flare, could you walk in front of us so that we can see?" Zed asked his Pokémon. The Flame Pokémon responded by spitting fire at its Trainer. Zed jumped up, the fire hitting the wet ground and making steam hiss and rise.

"Hey, that's not very nice," Lyra scolded, causing the Charmeleon to give her a death glare.

"Char, Charmeleon!" it shouted at Lyra. This seemed to infuriate Marill (while Lyra had no idea what it had just said), and the Aqua Mouse Pokémon jumped down from its perch to yell at Charmeleon. The latter growled and jumped back and put its arm in a fist. Suddenly, its fist became surrounded in red-orange fire and Flare started running forward.

"Flare, stop!" Zed shouted. However, his Pokémon ignored him and continued towards Marill. Marill, instead of running away, took a deep breath and fired a massive Water Gun at the Flame Pokémon. The attack came so fast that Charmeleon didn't see it coming and blasted it against the cave wall.

"Marill, stop this right now!" Lyra huffed, and picked up her Pokémon. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon was muttering angrily to itself and kept a watchful eye on Flare, but it did as it was told. "Look, why don't we just use Mareep's Flash. That'll work fine." Flare got up slowly when Lyra finished her sentence and wiped water off its skin.

"So, are you going to light the way? Or would you rather have a fluffy little Mareep do the job instead?" Zed taunted Charmeleon. Flare muttered under her breath and turned around, walking out in front of them and waving the two Trainers forward. "That's more like it!"

"What's up with Flare?" Lyra whispered to Zed.

"She has an attitude. Although it can get very annoying sometimes when she doesn't listen, it was because of that attitude I got the Zephyr Badge," he replied quietly. Suddenly, across the pathway, a small brown and white Pokémon that looked like a small rodent scurried along, its nose on the ground and sniffing. When it saw the light from Flare's tail, it looked up, its large brown eyes wide from the sudden brightness. "Hey, look! It's a Sandshrew! I've always wanted one of those!"

"It's adorable!" Lyra squealed and took out her Pokédex. **"Sandshrew, the Mouse Pokémon. Sandshrew hates moisture and lives in holes it digs in dry places. It protects itself by rolling into a ball."**

"Now's my chance to catch one! Sigil, I choose you!" Zed shouted, tossing a black Poké Ball with four green ovals on it. Out of the ball, a brown and tan Pokémon with a skull on its head and a bone in its hand came out.

"Cu, cubone!" it shouted. Suddenly, it glared at Flare, and Flare glared back at it.

"No, no! I didn't let you out to fight Flare! Look at that Sandshrew! I want you to fight _it!_" The Lonely Pokémon looked smugly at Flare, and Charmeleon looked at its Trainer in anger. "Hey, you're lighting the way; that's your job!" Charmeleon barked a couple of yells back at him in response. "Next time, but for right now, Sigil, attack!" On its Trainer's command, Cubone ran as fast as it could at the startled Sandshrew, and slammed it hard over the head with its bone, a Bone Club attack. This aggravated the Mouse Pokémon, and caused it to pull itself into a ball. Then, it bounced back and rolled as fast as it could at Cubone. Sigil jumped out of the way of the rolling Sandshrew, and threw its bone at it in response.

"Why aren't you ordering your Cubone to attack it?" Lyra asked Zed, who was just sitting there watching the battle. Zed answered by shrugging his shoulders.

"I'd just be wasting my breath with the commands," he replied. "Watch." He turned towards the two Ground-type Pokémon. "Sigil, use Headbutt now!" However, the Lonely Pokémon ignored him and continued its assault on its opponent with its Bone Club attack. It almost looked like a game of baseball. Every time the wild Sandshrew would come forward with a Rollout attack, Cubone would hit it back with a Bone Club attack. Finally, it seemed as though Sigil was tired of the game, and when the Mouse Pokémon came back for another whack, the Lonely Pokémon pulled its fist back and it started to glow gold. As Sandshrew threatened to slam into Sigil, it brought its fist forward and slammed it right into the balled up Pokémon. This time, Sandshrew uncurled itself and fell onto the ground. "Excellent, Sigil!" Zed cheered. However, even though the Sandshrew was down for the count, it still ran forward, ready to smash it once again with Rock Smash. As fast as he could, Zed brought Sigil's Dusk Ball forward. "Sigil, return!" As Cubone jumped into the air, the laser from the ball sucked it up before it could strike the poor Sandshrew again. Both Lyra and Zed let out a sigh of relief.

"That was a close one," Lyra muttered to herself. Zed nodded and pulled out a Poké Ball with a blue top and two red lines on it.

"Now to catch it; Great Ball, go!" he called, tossing the red, white, and blue Poké Ball at the fainted Sandshrew. The ball hit its forehead and it was sucked into the ball much like Mareep was earlier. It started to shake, and the button started to flash red as Sandshrew tried to break free from the ball. But its battle from Zed's Cubone weakened it, and multiple sparkles exploded from the ball, signifying it was caught. Lyra cheered for joy as the black haired Trainer picked up the Poké Ball containing the newly caught Sandshrew.

"Wow, that was awesome! I feel sorry for poor Sandshrew, though," Lyra said, walking up and looking at the Poké Ball with Zed. The boy tossed the Poké Ball into the air and Sandshrew came out, looking a little battered and tired.

"Welcome to the team, _Tombs_," Zed happily declared, announcing his Sandshrew's new nickname. The Mouse Pokémon looked excitedly at its new Trainer.

"Aw, it likes its nickname!" Lyra squealed. Flare, however, was not impressed, and scoffed at the sight of Tombs and Zed bonding. The latter took out a purple and white spray bottle from his backpack and sprayed Tombs' wounds with it.

"This Potion will heal your wounds. It'll sting a little, though," he explained to it. Tombs nodded and didn't utter a squeal as the Potion did its job. After the bottle was empty, Tombs shook off the pain and smiled at Zed with happiness. "Sandshrew!" it uttered, and jumped at Zed. The black haired Trainer flinched in surprise and put his arms up to block his face, but then looked at Sandshrew in surprise as it hugged his arm and snuggled with him.

"Oh my god, it's so cute!" Lyra squealed again, jumping up and down and crushing her Marill in her arms. Zed laughed and placed Tombs on his shoulder.

"Okay Flare, lead us out of here!" Zed commanded. Flare scoffed, spit fire at the ground, and started walking the way straight.

o 0 o

After traveling a bit further, Lyra began to see natural sunlight, and she could feel a slight breeze moving her brown hair slightly. Then, once the group turned the corner, the exit was clear in sight. "Oh, look! There's the exit!" Lyra announced. "We made it!" Zed thanked Flare for her hard work (she responded by spitting an Ember attack at him) and returned her into her Poké Ball. The brunette ran as fast as she could, breathing in the fresh air as she stepped out into the open air.

"Looks like we made it," Zed stated as he reached Lyra and put his hand above his eyes so that the sun wouldn't get in his eyes.

"Thanks for offering to travel with Marill and me. Without you, I think we would have gotten lost," she said to him.

"No problem. It would have been quite lonely walking through that trail with just me anyways," he replied. "Now, how about I walk you to the Azalea Town Pokémon Center." Lyra nodded her head.

"I'd like that very much, Zed." So, the two strolled out and headed up the path that lead to Azalea Town. As they traveled to the old town, Lyra saw an opening in the side of a cliff. In front of it, there was a large statue of a strange Pokémon with a blank expression on its face. On top of it, there was a water spout coming out of its back. As they walked by the strange cave-like entrance, Lyra noticed a man in a black suit with a large red 'R' standing in front of it.

* * *

Oooo, now it gets interesting! Who could this mysterious person in the black suit be? I think it's obvious, lol. Anyways, sorry this took so long to write. I had a case of writer's block, and laziness. Plus, Farmville is sooooo addicting. *twitches* So anyways, now that I'm back in school, I'm back to a more normal routine. This chapter wasn't too bad for not having anything planned out when I started. This chapter is also my first OC chappie! ^^ Now, Zed Quill is owned by **Nianque.**

With only a week left until Black and White, they sure aren't giving out much information. They've given more about the anime. And you know my eyes are glued to anime updates being the anime freak that I am. So, tell me about what you think about Black and White so far. Has anyone else seen Ash's new eyes. Anyone else think they're creepy?

Okay, so let me thank my reviewers from last chapter!

Thank you:

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Nianque**

**pokemondude**

**DragonforceX**

**Hotrod198**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**arkee**

**Harbringer of Houndoom**

**Mysteryless**

Okay, that's it for this one! Next chapter, Lyra finds that Team Rocket is as horrible as the rumors say they are! Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	11. Case of the Missing Slowpoke

_Hey guys! In addition to my journal entries on my page, I now have a LiveJournal account, where I'll frequently update about things going on in my life, how the new chapters are doing, and even post some teasers from upcoming ones! The link is on my profile. But for now, enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Silver.

* * *

**Chapter 11**

If it was possible, Azalea Town seemed more olden day than Violet City was. Azalea Town was relatively smaller than Violet, that was for sure. But its old buildings seemed to come right out of those old samurai movies Lyra remembered seeing a while back. When Lyra and Zed entered the town, she immediately smelled the odor of someone burning wood, like a campfire. The smell relaxed her, and even followed her to the Pokémon Center. Eventually, it didn't take long for her to get to sleep either.

The next morning, after she got up and showered, she walked into the lobby to retrieve her Pokémon from the Nurse Joy here. This one had a light pink or magenta cross on her nurse's cap. "Thank you for choosing to stay at the Azalea Town Pokémon Center. We hope you enjoyed your stay," she recited to Lyra after handing her a tray with three Poké Balls. After Lyra pocketed the Poké Balls, she walked into the lobby, where she saw Zed looking at the contents in his backpack.

"Good mornin'," Lyra announced as she walked up to him. He looked up at her and nodded his head. "Whatcha doing?"

"I'm getting all my things together so I can challenge the Azalea Gym soon," the male Trainer replied. "Are you going to come with me?" Lyra thought to herself for a moment. _That cave we passed by had a mysterious person in front of it. He seemed to be guarding it. He seemed mean, too. Maybe he's with Silver..._

"No, I think I'm going to sight-see before I take on the Gym Leader," she answered. But Lyra wasn't sure if she was lying to him or not. However, Zed shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay. I'm heading out then. If we don't see each other, then see you at the Silver Conference," he declared, then walked out of the Pokémon Center doors after waving to Lyra. When he was gone from sight, the brunette walked back up to the front desk.

"Hello Nurse Joy. I was wondering if you could help me with something?" she asked.

"Sure. Ask away," Joy replied, looking up from some paperwork and smiling sweetly.

_I wonder if all Nurse Joys are this happy and cheerful?_ Lyra wondered to herself before continuing. "When I arrived here, I noticed a cave at the edge of town. It had a statue of a Pokémon in front of it. Do you know what it is?"

"Oh, you must mean the Slowpoke Well. The residents of Azalea Town built that well long ago for the Slowpoke." Lyra pulled out her Pokédex and typed in the name. **"Slowpoke, the Dopey Pokémon. Slowpoke is always lost in thought, though no one knows what it is pondering."**

"It's called the _Dopey_ Pokémon? That's a little odd," she thought aloud.

"Well, the legend has it that four hundred years ago, Azalea Town was going through a large drought. Plants and crops were dying, and the residents hardly had any water to survive off of. Rain would not come to the town for months, and it finally seemed that it would be the end for the village, when suddenly, a Slowpoke appeared. The Slowpoke walked out into the middle of town and yawned. When it did, dark rain clouds appeared, and it started to rain. Ever since then, the townspeople have worshiped Slowpoke. They built the well to honor the Slowpoke."

"Wow, that's so cool!" Lyra exclaimed. "Pokemon are awesome, aren't they?" Nurse Joy nodded, but then her pure blue eyes saddened.

"Yes, but unfortunately, most people have come in here, asking if I've seen their Slowpoke. Most people in town keep Slowpoke as pets, but a lot of people have reported them lost," she explained.

"They just all vanished without a trace?" Lyra asked. Joy nodded her head slowly.

"Yes. The last thing I remember before the Slowpoke disappeared, though, was seeing a bunch of men come through town. They all had on black suits, but they left as quickly as they came." Lyra's mind immediately shot to the man in front of the Slowpoke Well.

"These people... did they wear all black, with a black hat and a large red 'R' on the front of their shirts?" she questioned.

"You know what... they did! Why, do you know them?" the pink-haired nurse replied, but before she got her answer, Lyra turned around and ran out the glass doors of the Pokémon Center.

o 0 o

"Marill, come on out!" the brunette Trainer shouted as she ran down the dirt roads of Azalea Town. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon burst out of its Poké Ball and held onto her Trainer's arm. "I'm going to need your help if Silver's around!" Marill nodded and looked straight ahead with intensity. Now that Lyra was looking properly, she could see many 'MISSING' posters posted on the sides of telephone poles, depicting the image of a Slowpoke. _But would Silver steal other people's Pokémon? And what would he be doing with a large number of Slowpoke?_ Many people stared as she ran past them, but she didn't pay any attention to them. All that mattered was saving the Slowpoke and stopping Silver, or whoever was doing this.

Finally, she reached the well. As expected, the man in the black outfit was standing in front, guarding the entrance. His dark brown eyes darted at Lyra, seeing her suddenly appearance, and he quickly pulled out a Poké Ball from his belt. "Zubat, stop that girl!" A light blue bat-like Pokémon with no eyes came out and shot at Lyra.

_He must have something to hide since he's attacking me,_ she thought.

"Go Marill! Use Water Gun now!" Lyra swung her arm forward and threw Marill into the air at the enemy's Zubat, and Marill blasted it with a spiral of water from its mouth. The Bat Pokémon fell to the ground, but started to flutter back up. "Now, use Tail Whip!" As Marill started falling to the ground and Zubat started to rise, it grabbed its tail and swung it forward, slamming the blue ball of it into Zubat's back and knocking it out. The black-suited man grunted and pulled out another Poké Ball. "Aqua Jet, quickly!" Before the man tossed his ball, Marill surrounded itself in water and slammed into the man's stomach. He collapsed in a heap, gasping for breath. "Great job, Marill!" Lyra exclaimed, and ran up to the man. "Who's in this cave? Is it Silver?"

"S-Silver?" the man sputtered, looking slightly surprised. Before he said anything more, he passed out on the spot.

"Looks like we'll have to find out for ourselves," she muttered to Marill and herself before running into the entrance of the well. Inside, she could hear murmuring, as if a group of people were down there talking all at once. Without thinking, Lyra ran down the pathway. The path going underground was steep, and before Lyra knew it, she tripped on a rock and rolled down the hill, yelling and calling out in pain. Finally, she landed on flat ground, rubbing her backside. Marill followed close behind, the poor Pokémon being thrown off in the momentum of the trip. "That didn't feel too good..." The well was very quiet, with the exception of the water dripping, and when Lyra looked up, she could see many people, who were also wearing black suits with the letter 'R' on them staring at her with wide eyes. Also in the well, there were many, many Slowpokes. All of them were in a cage, and they all looked sad. There were a few, however, who didn't seem to have tails. Lyra also saw a man holding a Slowpoke on a wooden table, a large knife in his hands. It seemed to have a crimson substance on it, and it had raised it above his head before Lyra bounced her way in. Lyra sat in awe and stared at all the men and women in the suits, and realized that she was outnumbered, one to about twenty. She nervously laughed and waved. "Hi." Very suddenly, they all stopped what they were doing and each pulled out a Poké Ball from their belt.

"Who is it?" a high pitched feminine voice asked in the back. The darkly-dressed people stepped aside and made a path.

"A little girl and her Marill, Ma'am," a man in the front reported. Two figures walked up the path. Both were girls, and they both seemed to be in great shape. The girl on the left, the one who had spoke up earlier, had periwinkle-colored hair, and the corners stuck out in the back. She wore a black suit that showed her stomach, and she wore black leather pants. On the bottom of the right pant leg, there was a purple design that reached up halfway between her kneecap and ankle. Over her arms, she wore lavender gloves that were held up by gold armlets. She sneered at Lyra with her brown eyes.

The girl next to her wore an outfit exactly like her colleague, except the design on her pant leg was pink, and on the other leg. She also wore powder pink gloves instead of lavender. The armlets holding them up were silver as well. Her blonde hair was pulled up into large pigtails that curled around her ears and stuck out from her head. There was also a strand of blonde hair coming down in front of her face, showing only one of her brown eyes. Both girls looked similar to each other, but it was clear that the one with the blonde hair was older by the height difference. "Little girl, how did you get past the guard out front?" the woman with the periwinkle hair asked. Lyra stood up, getting into a ready position, her hand ready to reach into her bag to grab a Poké Ball at a moment's notice. The two girls looked at each other and smirked.

"I don't think you know what you're getting yourself into," the blonde girl said in a calm voice. "There's no way you could beat us in a battle."

"Who are you, and what are you doing in here? Are these the Slowpoke from Azalea Town? Why did you take them?" Lyra shouted her questions one after the other, not waiting for an answer. Both girls raised their eyebrows in surprise, then smirked.

"You're not in a position to be asking questions, missy," the periwinkle haired girl replied.

"We might as well tell us who we are, Oakley," the Barbie-lookalike suggested, "since she's never going to see the light of day again." It was here that Lyra's heart started pounding in her chest. She realized how dire the situation was. Lyra, who was only twelve years old and had three Pokémon to her name, now had to face at least twenty men and women who were most likely not going to show any mercy to her.

_Maybe these people will be as weak as the guy out front, _she thought to herself as a bead of sweat slipped down the side of her face.

"Oh, I guess so." The girl once again smirked at Lyra and put her hands on her hips. "My name is Oakley. This is my sister, Annie. We are the newly appointed Executives of the Johto branch of Team Rocket!" Lyra's eyes opened wider.

_Team Rocket? Oh, what have I gotten myself into?_

"As for answering your question about why we're here, we're here collecting Slowpoke tails for money. The Black Market goes crazy for these kind of things. And before you even ask: yes, these are the Slowpoke from Azalea Town."

"You're _cutting off_ the Slowpokes' tails?" Lyra exclaimed angrily. "That's awful! How dare you do that to those poor Pokémon. Let them go this minute!" The cave echoed with laughter at her demand as the Team Rocket gang started laughing.

"You think _you_ can give _us_ orders?" Oakley replied, while her sister still snickered into the back of her hand. "You can think twice about that, kiddie."

"Would you like us to take care of this girl, Ma'am?" a Rocket Grunt, the one who had reported to them earlier, asked.

"No. Continue what you were doing. We'll take care of this brave little Trapinch," Oakley answered, not looking at him as she spoke.

"I wonder how much a Marill will cost on the market these days?" Annie asked, putting a finger to her mouth to think. "We'll have to see what other Pokémon she has on her after we kill her."

"We'll see about that!" Lyra shouted, tossing out two Poké Balls into the air. They burst open and released a white light from them. Chikorita and Mareep appeared in front of their Trainer, ready for battle. Marill jumped out next to them, looking at the two Rocket Executives angrily. Both girls laughed once again.

"Those Pokémon are very cute, but they won't stand a chance against ours," Oakley mocked, taking out a Poké Ball of her own. Instead of a regular Poké Ball, which was red at the top, it was gold, with a mahogany stripe around the middle. "Ariados!" Out of her Poké Ball, a large red spider-like Pokémon came out. It had six yellow and purple striped appendages on its body, four of which were its legs. The other two stuck out on the back of its abdomen. It also had a large white horn, and it snapped its white mandibles together. Lyra took out her Pokédex as another bead of sweat dropped to the moist cave floor. **"Ariados, the Long Leg Pokémon. The evolved form of Spinarak. Ariados is able to spin extremely strong and sticky webs to trap its adversaries."**

"This thing looks nasty," Lyra muttered to her Pokémon.

"Now that you've had your lesson on Ariados for today-"

"Wait!" Lyra suddenly exclaimed. "If Team Rocket is down here, does that mean that Silver's part of Team Rocket?" The two sisters raised their eyebrows.

"Silver?" they both exclaimed. Lyra looked at them, and clamped her hands over her mouth.

_Crap, I said that out loud, didn't I?_

"What do you know about Silver, little girl?" Annie asked.

"It doesn't matter, Annie. Now, we _definitely _have to kill her," Oakley muttered.

"No you don't!" Lyra retaliated. "Mareep, ThunderShock! Marill, Water Gun, and Chikorita, Razor Leaf!" All of Lyra's Pokémon shot their attacks at Ariados. What Lyra didn't know was, since water conducts electricity, when Marill's Water Gun blasted Ariados and soaked it, Mareep's ThunderShock did double the damage it normally would. Ariados called out in pain and kneeled down before getting hit with the Razor Leaf attack and pushing it back. "Wow, that did more damage than I thought." Oakley watched as her Ariados struggled to get up, but then shook off the pain.

"You'll pay for that! Ariados, Night Shade now!" she commanded. Ariados's horn started to glow black, and it fired a black beam from it. The beam struck Mareep and the Wool Pokémon bleated in pain as it was tossed backwards.

"Mareep!" the brunette Trainer called, running up to check on her injured Pokémon. The Pokémon was already knocked out after one blast from Ariados.

"Great work, Ariados. Now aim for the _girl_ this time," Oakley said, smirking. Suddenly, a round red and white Pokémon which looked like a large Poké Ball rolled down the entrance of the cave.

"Vollll-tooorb!"

"What is that?" Annie asked, tilting her head to look at the creature at an angle. The creature's body started to glow white, and yellow sparks appeared around it.

"It's using Selfdestruct! Duck!" a Rocket grunt called, and everyone ducked to the floor as the Pokémon violently exploded, gray smoke and dust shooting up everywhere. Lyra gathered her Pokémon and hugged them tightly as the Poké Ball-like Pokémon exploded in front of them. Finally, the room settled down from the explosion and Lyra slowly opened her eyes. Standing next to her was a tall man with very dark blue, almost black, hair. He was slim, and he wore a blue full body suit with a black trim in the front that reminded Lyra of a suit ninjas would wear in the movies. Around his neck, he wore a bright red scarf that reached down to his kneecaps. He had black socks on his feet that he tucked his blue pants into, and he wore waraji, or straw sandals over them. His hands were in front of him, a hand wrapped around his two fingers, and two fingers sticking up from the other hand, in a ninja-like style.

"Are you alright, young lady?" he asked her in a stern voice, looking at her through the corner of his eyes.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, but you need to get out of here, mister! This is Team Rocket here! You're just going to get hurt!" she exclaimed, still lying on the floor with her Pokémon. The man smiled slightly.

"This isn't my first encounter with Team Rocket," he replied. "But thanks for your concern, either way." Finally, the smoke cleared, and all the Team Rocket members rose up from the ground, as did Annie and Oakley.

"Look at my outfit! It's ruined!" Annie exclaimed. "And all this dust is going to take forever to get out of my hair!"

"Who are you? I hope you know who you're messing with!" Oakley shouted at the mysterious man.

"Shame on you, picking on a young girl. You should be ashamed of yourselves," he said. Annie looked at the man in anger and pulled out a black Poké Ball with what looked like a red kiss mark designed on it.

"You ruined my outfit, and now you're telling us to be ashamed of ourselves? I've had enough of you! Espeon, go!" Annie threw her Poké Ball and released a purple cat-like Pokémon that had a red gem on its forehead. Oakley's Ariados crawled up next to Espeon and faced the man.

"Now, we're going to ask you again, and if you don't answer, we're going to attack you," Oakley explained slowly, as if trying to bottle up her anger. "Who are you?" The man sighed.

"I am Koga, ninja master and one of the Johto Elite Four," he answered. Lyra gasped at his response.

_No way! The Elite Four are some of the toughest Trainers ever!_ Annie and Oakley, however, seemed unphased.

"The what?" Annie asked.

"I don't care what he is! Ariados and Espeon, attack!" her sister shouted. Both Pokémon nodded, and Espeon fired a multicolored beam from the gem on its forehead, and Ariados fired a black beam from its horn. Both attacks were directed at Koga. As quick as lightning, the ninja Trainer pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it. In a flash of light, both attacks were deflected, and a pale orange powder streamed out and swept over the two Pokémon. Suddenly, they seemed to be writhing in pain. It seemed like they were having a hard time moving as well. After the smoke cleared, Koga was standing in the same position he was in when they first saw him, and a strange purple moth Pokémon was fluttering in front of him.

"Espeon!" Annie cried.

"Ariados! What happened?" Lyra slowly got up and pulled out her Pokédex. **"Venomoth, an evolved form of Venonat. Tiny scales on its wings disperse various spores when they are flapped."**

"My Venomoth paralyzed your Pokémon using Stun Spore. Now they will be unable to move until they are healed," Koga explained, putting his Pokémon back into its Poké Ball. "Now, release these Slowpoke at once. What you are doing to them is unforgivable, but I will forget about this if you do." Oakley smirked at his statement.

"You think because you paralyzed our Pokémon, you've beaten us? Think again, ninja man," she replied, and tossed out a Poké Ball. Out of it, a large Pokémon with a large red flower on its head over its blue body appeared.

"A Vileplume?" the Elite Four member muttered. Lyra scanned the Pokémon with her Pokédex. "**Vileplume, the Flower Pokémon. Using the largest flower petals in the world, it spreads large amounts of pollen that cause allergic reactions."**

"What is she planning to do?" Lyra asked, putting away her Pokédex and standing up. Her Chikorita walked in front of its Trainer protectively and Marill hopped up onto her arm.

"Vileplume, Aromatherapy." Vileplume happily nodded and a green powder came out of the middle of the flower on its head. The powder floated over to Ariados and Espeon, and when the two breathed it in, they jumped right back up, growling at Koga. Oakley put her Vileplume back into her Poké Ball and both Executives smirked at Koga.

"Chikorita, Razor Leaf! And Marill, use Water Gun!" Lyra suddenly called out. Chikorita swung its head, firing multiple razor sharp leaves from the leaf on its head, and Marill fired a spiral of water from its mouth at Ariados and Espeon.

"Espeon, take care of 'em!" Annie commanded. "Psybeam!" Espeon faced the two attacks and fired a multicolored beam from the gem on its head at the two attacks. The leaves were disintegrated when they were blasted, and the Water Gun was stopped in its place, dissolving when it was hit as well. The Psybeam kept going, however, and struck both of Lyra's Pokémon. The two were blasted back and slammed against the wall.

"Now Ariados, use Poison Jab on all of them!" Oakley ordered.

"Scyther, Slash attack!" Koga shouted. Suddenly, from out of the darkness, a green mantis-like Pokémon with huge scythes where its claws should have been came out, fast as a Thunderbolt, and slashed Ariados in an uppercut fashion. As Ariados was shot into the air by the attack, the Mantis Pokémon jumped into the air and appeared above Ariados. Then, it swiped its claws repeatedly, slashing Ariados over and over again. "Now, finish with False Swipe!" As Ariados fell to the well floor, Scyther flew higher into the air, then started to dive. As it fell, it held out both of its claws. The Mantis Pokémon flapped its wings for more speed, and it caught up to Ariados. It then stuck its claws into Ariados and pushed it into the floor, creating a large dent. Scyther then jumped back out and landed in front of the Elite Four member. Oakley stood in awe, as did many of the Team Rocket grunts.

"A-Ariados?" Oakley asked, looking into the crater. Ariados was barely awake, and it looked pretty beaten up.

"Is it alright?" Annie questioned, looking into the crater as well.

"What are you doing? Attack that insect now!" her sister shouted, surprising Annie.

"Snippy," she mumbled. "Alright Espeon, attack that Scyther with Swift attack!" Espeon jumped forward and fired multiple golden stars from its mouth at the green Bug-type Pokémon.

"Scyther, Fury Cutter," Koga ordered calmly. As the stars reached Scyther, the Mantis Pokémon raised its claws and started slashing each star, destroying it as it did. Its claws were moving so fast they looked like a green and silver blur in front of Scyther. Lyra was amazed at how none of the stars were hitting Scyther at all. Annie and Oakley also were staring at the Elite Four member's Pokémon in awe. "Strike it down with X-Scissor." Scyther nodded at its Trainer's command, and jumped to the right when Espeon stopped using Swift. Then, it crossed its scythes in front of its face and they started to glow light purple. Then, it flew at Espeon and slashed it, bring both of its claws across it like an 'X'. Espeon called out in pain and flew into a grunt, who fell to the ground with a thump.

"Espeon!" Annie exclaimed, running up to her Pokémon. "You'll pay for that!" Oakley growled at Koga and slowly walked over to her sister.

"It looks like we have to retreat this mission," she muttered to her.

"What?"

"This guy's tough. He beat our Pokémon in less than five attacks. If we stay here, we might as well head right back to prison." Annie shuttered.

"Orange is _not_ my color," she agreed. "And besides, we have a good amount of SlowpokeTails that will give us a fair amount of money."

"Team Rocket, retreat!" Oakley shouted.

"You think we're just going to let you waltz out like nothing even happened!" Lyra shouted, and Chikorita and Marill yelled at them as well. Oakley smirked.

"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, little girl," she replied, and snapped her fingers. A female grunt with long purple hair stepped forward and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Koffing, SmokeScreen now!" she shouted as she tossed it. A purple Pokémon that floated in the air came out of the ball. It was round, and it had several craters all around its body. Below its face was a skull and crossbones mark.

"Koff, Koff, Koffing!" it sputtered, then thick black smoke poured out from the holes on its body, covering the entire well in a thick smog. Lyra started coughing from the lack of oxygen, and there was no way that the smoke was going to evaporate with them being so far down into the earth. Her eyes were burning from the smoke, and she fell the ground, feeling about ready to pass out.

"Scyther, Swords Dance," she heard Koga say. Lyra then noticed a powerful wind had suddenly appeared, and it was blowing the smoke away. When the brunette looked up, Koga's Scyther had its scythes crossed across its chest, and it was spinning rapidly, which was blowing the smoke away. Finally, all the smoke was gone, and Lyra stood up slowly.

"Are you and your Pokémon okay, miss?" Koga asked.

"We'll be fine, thanks to you," she replied. Koga nodded and walked forward, up to the cage filled with Slowpokes. Some of them had their tails cut off, and there was blood coming out of them. "I can't even begin to imagine the pain these things went through," she said sadly.

"They went through no pain," Koga responded. "Slowpokes feel no pain in their tails; and they grow back quickly." He turned to his Scyther. "Scyther, Slash attack." Scyther nodded and it slashed through the lock on the cage, cutting through it like butter. The steel lock fell to the ground, and Koga opened the door. It took a while for the Slowpokes to realize that they were free, but once they did, they all walked out, heading back to their homes and families. Koga returned his Scyther back into its Poké Ball, and he looked at Lyra. "You are a Pokémon Trainer?"

"Yes, I am. I just started though, as you can see," she replied, pointing to her Marill and Chikorita. The two smiled happily at the Elite Four member.

"You are in Azalea Town to challenge this Gym, correct?" The brunette nodded.

"I've also been looking for someone for Professor Elm. That's why I came in here in the first place."

"A boy named Silver?" he asked. Lyra nodded.

"How did you-"

"I listened in when you entered. I had been trying to figure out how to get into the well without Team Rocket noticing. That's when you showed up. I saw how quickly you got through the guard, so I stayed back, wondering how strong you really were. Once I heard those two say they were Executives, then I knew I had to step in. I sent my Voltorb down to cause a distraction, and I sent my Scyther to hide in the shadows."

"You're really powerful, mister. I hope that one day, we can battle." Koga smirked, and nodded.

"I would like that very much," he replied.

o 0 o

Silver emerged from Union Cave and wiped the dust off his shirt. He had just finished training his Pokémon, as well as managed to capture one that seemed to have good potential. _At least they aren't as worthless as they were when I first got them,_ he thought as he walked up to Azalea Town.

He reached into his pocket and started to finger his shiny new Zephyr Badge he had gotten for beating the Violet City Gym Leader. The redhead smirked as he remembered that battle. _The Gym Leader was certainly not your average Trainer, but he was still not strong enough to handle Croconaw or Nidorino,_ he thought to himself. As he walked by a cave entrance that had a statue of a Slowpoke in front of it, something caught his red eyes that made him freeze in his tracks. Laying right in front of the cave entrance, there was a black hat that was very familiar to him. "Team Rocket..."

* * *

Yay! This chapter came out excellent! So, were you guys surprised by my choice? I didn't want this to be based _exactly_ off HeartGold and SoulSilver, so I wanted to keep you guys on your toes. Annie and Oakley are pretty cool, so I decided to add them. And I had no idea how Lyra was going to beat two professional spies who've had years of experience, so I decided to add an Elite Four member. How'd it turn out? I hope you guys liked it.

So, a couple things I'd like to mention. First, I've started a LiveJournal account, so that you guys will get a heads-up on how the chapter's going and things like that. I occasionally add teasers or a paragraph or two of the chapter as a preview, so you should check it out. Second, me and **Curse of the Black Rose**, have started a new collaboration account under the name of **Mamepato's Daydream.** We will probably post future collaboration projects on that account, so subscribe if you want to. Finally, I posted a Yu-gi-oh story. It's a collaboration with **Curse of the Black Rose** on my profile, so if you like Yu-gi-oh, check it out if you want. ^^ Before I thank my reviewers, let me mention that the OC in this story, Zed Quill, is owned by **Nianque**. Now, to thank my reviewers!

Thank you:

**Nianque**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DragonforceX**

**CaramelldansenXLove**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**pokemondude**

**arkee**

**Harbringer of Houndoom**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

Thanks guys for reviewing! Next chapter, Lyra visits the Azalea Gym! Will she win her first badge, or will she miserably lose again? Find out next chapter! Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	12. The Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia

_Time is so precious these days. I don't know why. I guess I can finally use the phrase 'so little time, so much to do'... or something like that. Things are kinda stressful, but hopefully I'll be able to get more done now that camp is closed and camp is finished for the year. Bleh. Good for you, bad for me, lol. Well, enjoy the chapter._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Silver.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Later that day, both Koga and Lyra walked back to the Pokémon Center. The excitement was too much for Lyra to take for just one day, however, and she passed out right on the spot. Right now, she tossed and turned in her bed, sweat pouring from her body as she dreamed up her nightmare.

_She was in some sort of dark place. The air smelled thick and heavy, like a cave. In the distance, there was water dripping, but Lyra paid no attention to it. She was running, her red slip-on shoes thumping loudly and echoing across the stone floor. She was gasping, trying to catch her breath as she ran. "What do you want?" she heard herself shout. Then, she heard two females laughing hysterically, and she stopped, whipping her head around to see Annie and Oakley, laughing as hard as they could. In front of them was Espeon and Ariados, who seemed to be grinning along with their Trainers._

_"You know too much," Annie muttered._

_"Time to kill you!" Oakley finished, and both sisters pointed their pointer fingers forward. Both Ariados and Espeon crouched down and was about to pounce when a voice spoke up._

_"No, let me take care of her," a young, male voice said in a familiar tone. Annie and Oakley smirked evilly and stepped off to the side, showing a person sitting in a type of stone throne. A light flicked on above the throne, and it showed Silver resting his head against his hand. Instead of his normal get-up, however, he wore a gray uniform. His jacket was all gray, except for the cuffs, which were a darker color than the rest of it. There was a red gem and a yellow stripe that separated the sleeve and the cuff, and the same yellow lining was used in the front of the jacket. It started at his shoulders, which had two maroon stripes starting from his neck to his shoulder blades, and went down his body to the edge of the shirt, then went along the edge and back up in a symmetrical pattern. Next to the lines, there were five golden buttons on each side of the shirt, trailing down to the edge of the shirt. His pants were plain gray, and on his feet, he wore black boots. He stood up from his sitting position and took out a Poké Ball._

_"S-Silver?" Lyra exclaimed. The redhead ignored her and threw the ball, releasing the Croconaw that was stolen from Professor Elm a while ago._

_"Water Gun," Silver ordered, and Croconaw opened its mouth, firing a blast of water from its mouth straight at Lyra._

The brunette quickly sat up, gasping for breath. She looked around to see where she was. _Inside my room at the Pokémon Center? Koga must have carried me here when I passed out._ The young Pokémon Trainer yawned loudly and noticed she was in her clothes still. Her blanket and sheet were tossed on the floor. Her pillow was on the edge of the bed, by her feet, and her hat was on the floor in front of the bedside table. She took a deep breath and wiped her forehead of sweat. She picked up her PokéGear and checked the time. When she saw it, she gasped and her jaw dropped. "Ten Forty-two? I must have slept all day yesterday and all night!" She jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom built into the room. She brushed her teeth and quickly brushed her hair before jumping into the shower. She squirted some of the Pokémon Center brand shampoo onto her hand and started to wash her hair. As she did, she thought about her nightmare.

"I wonder if Silver was here with Team Rocket... Would he even be _part_ of them?" she thought aloud to herself. "He certainly has the attitude for it, but wouldn't he wear the uniform?" Lyra put her hand to her chin and thought, imagining Silver in a Team Rocket outfit. It didn't look right, but it sure was possible. Just then, the soap from her hair slipped onto her face and dripped down, landing right in her left eye. She immediately closed it and yelled out slightly in pain, putting both hands up to cover the eyelid. As she put her hands up, she stepped back and slipped on a stray drop of shampoo that managed to drip off Lyra hair. Her foot came out from under her, and she screamed, grabbing onto the peach shower curtains for support. While Lyra was light, she definitely was heavy enough to pull out a shower curtain, and the plastic ripped from the rings holding it up, and both Lyra and the curtains fell out of the tub. She fell to the ground with a thump, and the curtain tied around her legs, making her unable to move. "Ouch..." Lyra muttered, rubbing her arm where she landed on the linoleum covered floor. Suddenly, the doorknob opened and Nurse Joy came barging in. When she saw Lyra lying naked on the ground with soap in her hair, one eye squinting, with the peach shower curtain wrapped around her feet, she gasped and ran up to her.

"Are you okay?" she gasped, and helped Lyra up. Lyra's face was red as a Tomato Berry as she quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body. "What happened?"

"I guess I wasn't paying attention and soap got in my eye. Then I slipped on some soap on the floor, and here we are..." Lyra explained. "And here I am, standing naked... I'm fine, though." Nurse Joy nodded, and picked up the shower curtain off the floor.

"These are a lost cause, however. But, they can be easily replaced," Nurse Joy muttered, and smiled at Lyra. She then looked up at the young Trainer's hair and giggled. "You can shower in the room next door to get all the soap out of your hair." Lyra looked at the floor in embarrassment. Nurse Joy left to unlock the room next door while Lyra gathered up her clothes and quickly ran to the next room while trying to avoid any other Trainers who might see her with soap in her hair and wearing nothing but a towel.

_Most embarrassing moment of my life!_

o 0 o

Finally, Lyra managed to get ready without any more injury, embarrassing moments, or destroying any more of the Pokémon Center's property, and she walked into the Pokémon Center's lobby, where Nurse Joy was waiting with her Poké Balls ready, and a complimentary breakfast for Lyra and her Pokémon. "Nurse Joy, you really don't have to do this," Lyra stated, sitting down as the pink-haired nurse and her Chansey handed her a tray with bacon, scrambled eggs, and three bowls of Pokémon Chow. "These kinds of things happen to me all the time, trust me."

"It's not a problem. It's our way of saying 'sorry'." Nurse Joy petted Marill briefly before walking away. The brunette sighed and started poking her eggs with a fork. Unlike her, however, Marill, Chikorita, and Mareep didn't feel the least bit concerned and started feasting on the food like there was no tomorrow. She sighed and stared out the window. In the distance, she could see a windowed dome roof just above some of the trees.

"Is that a greenhouse?" Lyra asked herself.

"No, that's the Azalea Gym," Nurse Joy replied, putting a glass of Moo Moo Milk on the table in front of her. Lyra was surprised by the pink-haired nurse's arrival and jumped up, slamming her knees against the wood structure.

"The Gym?" she asked, rubbing her knees where she had banged them. Nurse Joy nodded.

"Yes. It's run by Bugsy," Nurse Joy commented. "Most people call him the Walking Bug Pokémon Encyclopedia because of his studies on Bug-type Pokémon." The brunette Trainer sighed.

"Another smart and tough Gym Leader? That's just great..." she muttered to herself. Nurse Joy chuckled.

"It's a Gym Leader's job to test Trainers for the Pokémon League," she replied. "Don't let things get to you. If you do, then your Pokémon will sense this and they will become nervous during the battle as well."

"My Pokémon... will become nervous... as well?" Lyra repeated slowly. Chikorita briefly looked up at its Trainer and cocked its head before taking another bite of its food.

"Pokemon have a funny way of sensing what their Trainers feel, and if they sense that the Trainer is nervous, it will make _them_ nervous as well," she answered. Lyra stared at Nurse Joy and suddenly smiled widely.

"I get it! So what you're telling me is, don't be nervous and I'll win!" she shouted.

"Um, not exactly-"

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" she exclaimed, and started chowing down on her breakfast as fast as she could.

_At least she's eating,_ Nurse Joy thought, and walked away smiling.

o 0 o

"Wow, it's huge!" Lyra exclaimed, looking up at the Azalea Gym in awe.

"Maar, ill!" her Marill replied, nodding its head. The building looked like a huge, teal greenhouse from the outside. It had a windowed dome-like roof over it, and there was no front door at all; just a large entrance. As Lyra and Marill stepped into the enormous building, she instantly felt as if they were teleported into a large forest. All around, there were trees, flowers, and different types of plant life everywhere. It was so peaceful in here as well, and Lyra felt as if she could climb up a sturdy tree and take a long nap in one of the branches. The brunette looked into one of the giant oak trees and saw a Caterpie doing just that, and she chuckled to herself as she moved forward.

She continued watching the life inside the Gym as she strolled through the Gym, when suddenly, the Pokémon Trainer turned around and bumped into a large green object. Surprised by the creature, she screamed and jumped back, holding her hand over her heart. The Pokémon looked at Lyra curiously with its black and white eyes. It was hanging down from a tree branch by a small white string coming from the top of its head "Sorry buddy, you scared me," she said to it, taking a deep breath. "What are you, anyways?" Before she reached into her pack to grab her Pokédex, a voice answered her.

"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon. Metapod is the evolved form of Caterpie. Using a hard shell to protect its body, it prepares for its next evolution," the voice of a young male recited. Lyra looked up to see a lavender haired boy looking down at her with a smile on his face. He was sitting on a tree branch, a red book with a round purple Pokémon on the cover opened and placed on his knee. He wore a green t-shirt with a yellow tie in front of it, and matching green short-shorts with them. On his feet, he wore brown shoes with white socks with one green stripe across the top that were pulled up close to his kneecaps. "You really shouldn't scream in here, miss. If you scare the Bug Pokémon, they might attack you." Lyra scoffed at the boy.

"I said sorry, kid," she fumed. "Who do you think you are anyways?" The lavender-haired boy closed his book and swung his legs over the tree, sitting to face Lyra and Marill.

"I don't _think_, I _know _who I am. I'm Bugsy, Leader of the Azalea Gym, where we just happen to be," he replied. Lyra smirked to herself.

"Ah, so _you're_ the Gym Leader..."

"Why? Are you a challenger?" he asked. She nodded and pointed at him dramatically.

"My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town. I challenge you to a Gym Battle, Bugsy!" He nodded and climbed down a ladder that was behind the branch.

"As Gym Leader, I accept your challenge, Lyra," he said. The two walked along a path that eventually lead to a clearing. In the middle of it, there was a large dirt battlefield that was surrounded by grass and trees. Standing in the middle of the battlefield was a referee dressed in an orange and black sweater that had a Poké Ball over his heart, and black shorts. When he noticed the two, he walked up to Bugsy and the two talked briefly before he headed off to the side of the battlefield. Bugsy stood on one side of the rectangle, and Lyra stepped into the challenger's zone on the other.

"You nervous, Marill?" she asked the Aqua Mouse Pokémon hanging on her arm. The Pokémon shook her head and Lyra smiled. "Good, 'cause neither am I!"

"This official Pokémon battle between Bugsy, the Gym Leader of the Azalea Town Gym and Lyra Soul, the challenger from New Bark Town is about to begin," the referee stated. "Each Trainer may use three Pokémon. A Gym Badge is at stake! Are the Trainers ready?"

"Me and Marill are all set!" Lyra replied.

"Before we start, Lyra, I want to ask you something that I ask all my challengers," Bugsy interrupted.

"Um, sure, shoot away."

"Have you ever heard the saying 'The Trainer who learns the rules of the Bug Pokémon, learns to rule the Bug Pokémon'?" he asked.

"Well, I can't say I have. But I'm sure that you've learned the rules of the Bug Pokémon, right?" she smirked. Bugsy smiled back.

"Right. You're not as dumb as you look, Lyra." The brunette gasped at his statement.

"What's that suppose to mean?" she shouted in anger, but the Gym Leader ignored her shouting and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Remember how I said that you shouldn't shout in here or the Bug Pokémon might attack you? Well, here's an example! I choose Metapod!" he shouted, and tossed the Poké Ball onto the battlefield. The round object opened up and released the green Cocoon Pokémon, much like the one Lyra encountered earlier.

"Metapod, huh? Okay, Chikorita isn't going to match up good against it," Lyra thought to herself. "So I'll choose Mareep! Go!" Out of Lyra's Poké Ball, the yellow Wool Pokémon came out and bleated, ready for battle. "Let's start off strong, Mareep! Use ThunderShock!" Mareep ran forward, yellow sparks of electricity flickering around its ears.

"Metapod, jump!" Bugsy shouted.

"Wait, what?" Lyra exclaimed. But, Metapod did the unthinkable and jumped eight feet into the air, much to Lyra and Mareep's surprise. "Mareep, fire ThunderShock!" Mareep shook away the confusion and fired a blast of light blue electricity from its body at Metapod.

"Dodge and Tackle!" Bugsy commanded. Metapod flipped around the ThunderShock and sped down like a rocket at Mareep, crashing into it at full force. Mareep bounced off the ground and rolled across the dirt. It got up quickly, however, and charged more electricity around its ears.

"That thing is fast for being a cocoon!" the brunette muttered in surprise to herself. "ThunderShock again!" Mareep bleated loudly and fired another blast of light blue electricity from its body at Metapod.

"Metapod, Harden!" Bugsy shouted, and Metapod's body immediately started to glow light green, and when the glow stopped, a white shine flashed across its now hard-as-steel body. The ThunderShock struck Metapod, and it cringed in pain. However, it didn't seem to take nearly much damage from the attack as it would have. "Now, use Tackle attack!" Metapod recovered from the attack fairly quickly and jumped into the air once again.

"Mareep, you use Tackle as well!" Lyra commanded, pointing her finger at Metapod. Mareep charged and jumped into the air towards Metapod.

"Metapod, dodge!" Bugsy retaliated, and suddenly, Metapod disappeared from sight.

"No way! That thing is so fast!" Lyra shouted, looking around for the Cocoon Pokémon. Mareep landed on the ground and started looking around as well.

"Metapod, now!" The lavender-haired Gym Leader called, and Metapod bolted out from one of the tree branches on the right side of the stadium and slammed into Mareep, sending it flying once again. It then jumped back into another tree branch. "Give up, Lyra?"

"No way, Bugsy!" she responded, and bit her lip. _This Metapod is unbelievably fast. Every time we try to hit it, it disappears or uses Harden,_ she thought. She pulled out her Pokédex from her pocket and clicked on Mareep's entry. When she saw the moves her Pokémon had, her eyes widened. "Where did Mareep get these kind of attacks?"

"Looking through your Pokédex in the middle of an important Gym Battle isn't something you should be doing right now," Bugsy scolded. "Metapod, attack!" Lyra heard the leaves in the tree behind her rustling, and looked up as Metapod sped above her head and charged at Mareep, getting ready to hit it with another Tackle attack. As she looked up, she also saw a bunch of leaves fluttering behind Metapod as it jumped at her Pokémon.

"Okay, I think I have a plan..." she muttered, putting away her Pokédex. "Mareep, dodge that Tackle!" The Wool Pokémon nodded and jumped up into the air, causing Metapod to hit the dirt floor and kick up dust. In the middle of the dust, Metapod disappeared, and there was a whoosh as its speed caused the airborne dirt to shift. The dust separated in a path heading towards a tree. "Ha, this will work out perfectly. Mareep, use ThunderShock on that tree right there!" At its Trainer's orders, Mareep's black and yellow striped ears became surrounded in yellow sparks, and it once again fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body.

"Dodge, Metapod!" Bugsy yelled.

"That's what I hoped you'd do," Lyra said, smiling. As the tree was blasted with the ThunderShock, a green blur shot out from in between the branches. "Mareep, Cotton Spore!" The Wool Pokémon nodded and suddenly, small balls of cotton came out of Mareep's wool and started floating in the air. When Metapod hit a handful of the floating cotton balls, they stuck to its hard shell. Suddenly, Metapod's eyes closed in pain and it fell to the ground like a rock, sparks surrounding its body. Bugsy gasped at the new developments.

"W-what happened?" he stuttered.

"You see, Cotton Spore doesn't do much; mostly, it's used to slow down your opponent's Pokémon," Lyra explained. "But, my Mareep's wool absorbs electricity, and when it used ThunderShock, it briefly left some electricity particles in its wool. When your Metapod went through the air and hit the Cotton Spores, they stuck to it using the static electricity stored inside the wool. And when it connected with the cotton, it was like hitting a handful of Mareep. And guess what my Mareep's ability is?"

"Your Mareep has to have Static! That means..."

"That your Metapod won't be able to speed around the battlefield anymore," Lyra finished. "Mareep, use Thunderbolt now!" And at its Trainer's command, Mareep's ears became surrounded by yellow electric sparks and it fired a powerful electrical blast from its body at Bugsy's Metapod, who was lying helpless on the ground.

"Metapod, Harden!" Bugsy worriedly shouted. Metapod's body started to glow light green and a white shine spread throughout its body as it used the attack, but the Cocoon Pokémon was still blasted by the powerful electric attack. When the dust faded, Metapod was knocked out.

"Metapod is unable to battle; Mareep wins!" the referee announced. Bugsy pulled out his Poké Ball and recalled his Pokémon.

"You tried your best, Metapod. Good job," he said, and put the Poké Ball away. "You managed to defeat my first Pokémon, Lyra. That's impressive, but now you have to battle one of my strongest Pokémon in my bug Pokémon arsenal." The Gym Leader took out his Poké Ball and tossed it. "Spinarak go!" From the burst of light, the familiar green spider-like Pokémon that Frieda had came out.

"You did a good job, Mareep," Lyra said to the Wool Pokémon, taking out its Poké Ball. "Return for now." After Mareep was safely back in its Poké Ball, Lyra turned to Marill. "Think you can handle it?" Marill nodded its head, and jumped off Lyra's arm and onto the battlefield. Bugsy started commanding his Pokémon right away.

"Spinarak, String Shot attack!" he commanded, and Spinarak immediately jumped into the air, firing a thick white string from its mouth at Marill.

"Marill, dodge it!" the brunette Trainer called. Marill jumped to the right, and the string stuck to the ground. "Now use Water Gun attack!" The Water Pokémon landed on the ground and fired a spray of water from its mouth at Spinarak.

"Dodge it by going into a tree, Spinarak!" Bugsy directed. Spinarak obeyed and pointed its head up, firing a String Shot from its mouth at a tree branch and pulling itself out of the way of Marill's Water Gun.

"Oh no, it's going into the trees!" Lyra groaned. "Marill, after it with Aqua Jet!" The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded and instantly its body was surrounded by water. It then shot like a rocket at Spinarak. However, the String Spit Pokémon cut the string from its mouth and flipped around, shooting a white string from its abdomen and connecting to another tree branch.

"Poison Sting, Spinarak!" Bugsy ordered, and as his Pokémon swung like an Aipom on its tail, Spinarak pointed its face at Marill and fired multiple white needles from its mouth.

"Marill, look out!" The brunette Trainer exclaimed, but Marill was too close to the attack, and the shining stingers flew right into the Aqua Mouse Pokémon. The water around its body broke apart and it fell to the ground. It didn't seem to take much damage from the attack, however; thanks to the layer of water that had surrounded it.

"Now Spinarak, use Bug Bite now!" the Gym Leader commanded, and Spinarak jumped out of the tree, ready to jump on Marill and bite it; its red mandibles opening and closing repeatedly.

"Marill, Water Gun attack!" Lyra called, and Marill immediately jumped up, firing a spray of water from its mouth and hitting the String Spit Pokémon as it fell, blasting it against a tree behind it. Spinarak slumped to the ground, knocked out from being crushed in between the water and the tree.

"Oh no! Spinarak..." Bugsy cried out.

"Spinarak is unable to continue! Marill wins!" the referee declared. Marill and Lyra jumped for joy as Bugsy recalled his Spinarak back into its Poké Ball.

"That was awesome, Marill! Just one more, and that Hive Badge is as good as ours!" she said to her Pokémon. The Pokémon nodded in response.

"Not so fast, Lyra," Bugsy interrupted. "I may have only one Pokémon left, but that's as far as you're going to go." The lavender-haired Trainer pulled out a Poké Ball from his pocket. "This is my strongest Pokémon; the Bug Pokémon warrior! I choose you, Scyther!" He threw the Poké Ball and it burst open, releasing the bright light from it. As the glow faded, a green Pokémon with two scythes as arms appeared on the battlefield.

"Hey, I recognize that Pokémon..." Lyra muttered, squinting her eyes. "That's the Pokémon that Koga of the Elite Four used!" Marill looked up at the Mantis Pokémon's glare and stopped in her tracks as its dark navy blue eyes stared down at her unimpressed. "We have to be careful, these things are fast. Marill, use Water Gun!" Marill gulped and jumped back, taking in a deep breath before firing off a stream of water at Scyther.

"Scyther, Double Team attack, now!" Bugsy commanded. Scyther called out and suddenly multiplied into four, much to the surprise of Lyra and Marill. As the Water Gun reached one of the four Scythers and passed right through it. As it did, the clone disappeared, leaving only three left.

"No way! How are we going to get past that?"

"Scyther, use Slash attack!" Bugsy ordered, and all three Scythers sped towards Marill. Two of them headed to the left and right, respectfully, and closed in on the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.

"Marill, use Aqua Jet and fire up!" Lyra directed, and Marill jumped into the air at her command, its body becoming surrounded by water and firing into the air like a rocket. All three Scythers stopped and stared into the air as Marill broke free from the water around it. "Now, use Tail Whip!" Marill started falling, and it grabbed its tail in one of its hands and started swinging it like a ball and chain.

"It's using the momentum of its fall to gain more power when it lands..." Bugsy concluded. "But, that's not going to stop Scyther and its clones..." The Water-type Pokémon finally reached the ground, and instead of throwing its tail downwards, however, it pulled up and swung its tail vertically. Bugsy gasped for a moment, but then shook it off. Two clones disappeared as they were hit by the orb at the end of Marill's tail. However, when the orb reached the real Scyther, it quickly raised one of its scythes and blocked the blow with it. "Fury Cutter!" When Scyther heard its command, it pushed away, causing Marill to be pushed back. Then, it jumped and started repeatedly cutting Marill with both of its scythes. Finally, it gave one last slash before jumping back and watching the Aqua Mouse Pokémon fall to the ground unconscious.

"Marill is unable to battle! Scyther wins the round!" the ref called out. Lyra ran out onto the battlefield and scooped up Marill in her arms.

"Are you okay, Marill?" she asked the small Pokémon quietly. Marill slowly opened its eyes and uttered out a response. "You battled excellent. You deserve a nice, long rest in your Poké Ball." The brunette pulled out the red and white ball and the laser sucked Marill into it. "Marill barely got hit before, so how did that Fury Cutter attack knock it out?"

"Good question," Bugsy replied as Lyra made her way back to her side of the battlefield. "Fury Cutter is an attack that doubles in power every time it connects with the opponent. That's why your Marill fell so easily." Lyra grumbled at his response and looked at his Mantis Pokémon, who stared at her and awaited her choice of Pokémon. Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the silver button in the middle, making it grow to the size of a baseball.

"Mareep, come back out!" she shouted, tossing the Poké Ball and releasing the yellow Wool Pokémon back onto the battlefield. "We need to win this, Mareep! Let's do it!" Mareep called out in approval and got into a battle position.

"Think what you'd like, but there's no way you're getting past my Scyther," Bugsy said, shrugging.

"We'll see... Mareep, use Cotton Spore now!" Lyra commanded, and Mareep lowered its head, releasing balls of wool from its back into the air and around the battlefield. "Now, use ThunderShock!" When Mareep was finished releasing the Cotton Spore into the air, yellow sparks of electricity appeared around its ears and it fired a blast of light blue electricity from its body at Bugsy's Scyther.

"Okay Scyther, Double Team!" Immediately, Scyther created three other copies of itself, and one of the copies was hit by the attack, causing it to fade instantly. "And now, Slash!" The three Scyther split up and charged at Mareep in all different directions, but Lyra's brown eyes were glued to the Cotton Spore attack. Lady luck started singing for Lyra as a cotton ball managed to stick onto the Scyther to the right of her Mareep, and was going through the others.

"Thunderbolt! To your right!" Lyra shouted. Mareep nodded and spun its body around so it faced the Scyther to the right. It then fired a blast of yellow electricity from its body at it, and the Pokémon opened its eyes wide before being hit with the electric attack. As it cried out in pain, the other two Scyther clones disappeared. "Gotcha!" Bugsy gasped, and looked up at the Cotton Spore.

"So that's how you figured it out..." he muttered.

"Yup, and now your Double Team trick will have no effect on us. Mareep, use Thunderbolt again!" Lyra ordered. Sparks appeared around Mareep's ears as it gathered electricity for the blast, and Scyther jumped up into the air, landing in front of Bugsy again.

"Scyther, Swords Dance!" he called. As Mareep fired the electric blast, the Mantis Pokémon crossed its scythes over its chest and started to spin rapidly. It spun so fast that the Cotton Spores were being blown away from the battlefield. The attack reached Scyther, but it was spinning so fast that the wind around it acted as an air bubble and pushed the attack into the ground. Both Lyra and Mareep gasped as Scyther came to a stop, completely unharmed. "You may have figured your way out of Scyther's Double Team, but Scyther and I still have our Swords Dance combo."

"S-Swords Dance combo?" Lyra muttered, still temporarily stunned from the Thunderbolt attack not working.

"Swords Dance is one of Scyther's best attacks. Not only does it give Scyther attack power, it also creates a barrier of wind around it," Bugsy explained. "We know what types Scyther is weak against, and we created a barrier to block that and any other attacks that might be hazardous to Scyther."

"Scyther, Scy!" it called out in victory, clanking its scythes together.

"Face it, Lyra; you don't stand a chance against us," The Mantis Pokémon's Trainer said. "You may have found a way around Double Team, but when it comes to Swords Dance, your Mareep doesn't stand a chance." However, Lyra smirked, which stunned Bugsy.

"You're so full of yourself, it's hilarious," she replied.

"What do you mean?"

"You think you're the only one with a back-up plan? I was actually kinda hoping my Cotton Spore strategy wouldn't work, so I could show you how much I've improved because of our battle." Bugsy's face of confusion didn't change, so Lyra decided to carry out her plan. "Mareep, use Flash attack now!" Mareep bleated out loudly and pointed its tail at Scyther. Suddenly, the yellow orb at the end of its tail started glowing brightly, and a beam of light shone brightly on Scyther's face. The Mantis Pokémon shut its eyes tightly and put its scythes in front of its face to block the bright light.

"Scyther!" Bugsy called out, also shielding his eyes from the bright light.

"Okay Mareep, use Thunderbolt to finish off Scyther!" Lyra commanded, and Mareep once again fired a blast of electricity from its body at Scyther. Since Scyther couldn't see from the Flash attack, it had no idea when the attack was going to hit, and it got shocked by the attack. Scyther called out in pain as Mareep stopped its tail from shining, and when Bugsy opened his eyes, Scyther was smoking and on the ground.

"Scyther is unable to battle! Mareep wins the round! The victory goes to the challenger from New Bark Town!" the announcer shouted, and Lyra squealed in happiness and ran up to her Mareep, hugging it tightly. Mareep happily licked her face. Bugsy smiled and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Good battle Scyther. You put up a good fight," he said, and a red laser shot out of it and sucked in the unconscious Mantis Pokémon. "Lyra!" Lyra looked up from her Mareep and saw Bugsy approaching her.

"Mareep, return," she said, and recalled her Mareep into his Poké Ball.

"You did a great job out there, Lyra. Although I lost, you really showed that you are, and will continue to be, a great Pokémon Trainer. This Hive Badge is yours." Bugsy reached into his pocket and handed a round, circular badge that looked like the back of a Ledyba with three spots on its back. Lyra gladly accepted the badge and stuck it in the second slot of her badge case.

"Badge number one..." she mumbled happily, looking at the badge with wide brown eyes. "Thanks so much, Bugsy!" Lyra put her badge case back in her backpack and, after saying goodbye to Bugsy, headed out of the Gym. She felt extremely proud of herself for the win, and was thinking about heading to the Pokémon Center to give her Pokémon a long rest when she noticed someone standing in front of the Gym, looking at her with angry red eyes.

"Oh, it's you," the familiar stern voice said.

* * *

Lyra's first Gym win! It's very exciting! And another chapter's down! Sorry for the long wait, guys, but it takes time to write these chapters, especially when you hardly have any time to yourself. So how long has it been since I've updated? How do you guys like Gen. V? I personally don't think they should have added it myself, but meh, these Pokémon are going to be with us forever, so I guess we don't have a choice. I'm excited for the games, though. They seem to be pretty fun. Not really much to say, so I guess I'll thank the reviewers of last chapter.

Thanks:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DragonforceX**

**CaramelldansenXLove**

**pokemondude **(thanks for the review!)

**OMGItsRainingOttsels **(Well, in the anime, the Elite Four seem to travel around the region, trying to get stronger. Plus, he had heard that Team Rocket was in the area, so he decided to check it out. Thanks for the review!)

**arkee**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**Nianque**

**JapanDreamer09**

**Tobiruun**

That's it, basically. Next chapter, Lyra gets confronted by the one and only Silver. Not much of a preview, but I'm kinda in a rush. Okay, so thanks for reading/reviewing, guys, and I will see you next chapter!


	13. Forced Battle

_I apologize greatly for the huge gap of time from last chapter. I really do hate to make you guys wait for so long, but my personal life is a little overwhelming right now, and I don't have that much time to write. I hope you all understand!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any or its characters, including Lyra or Silver.

* * *

**Chapter 13**

"S-Silver? W-what are _you_ doing here?" The redheaded Trainer continued to stare at Lyra with his piercing red eyes. He glanced up at the Gym for a second, then looked back at Lyra.

"Going to fight the Gym in Azalea Town," he said, "but I must have the wrong place."

"No, this is the right place. I just beat the Gym Leader, see?" Lyra pulled out her badge case and opened it up, showing off her shiny new badge. Silver was silent as he stared at the badge.

"Only _one_? Where's the Zephyr Badge?" Silver asked.

"I lost to Falkner because my Pokémon weren't as strong as his, so he told me to train more by fighting more Gym Leaders." Lyra explained. Silver smirked.

"You lost to Falkner, but you beat this Gym's Leader? This Gym Leader must be weak in order to lose to an even _bigger_ weakling." The brunette fumed and stomped her foot.

"What did you say?" Lyra shouted. "Falkner was really tough, and his Pokémon were more experienced than mine." Silver reached into his pocket. "Did you even... beat... him...?" As Lyra shouted her last sentence, she trailed off as Silver pulled out a silver badge that looked like a pair of wings in the shape of an upside-down 'U'.

"His Flying Pokemon didn't stand a chance against my Croconaw's Ice Fang attack. The match was over in 10 minutes, tops." Lyra stuck out her tongue at him.

"It's not even your Croconaw in the first place!" she muttered, crossing her arms across her chest. "Why are you even taking the Gym Challenge anyways? Your Pokémon are already strong enough. What's your goal?" He placed the badge back in his pocket and looked off to the side.

"At first I didn't have a goal. My goal was to just make my Pokémon as strong as they can be so that no Pokémon Trainer could match me in strength," he said, but then more quietly, muttered, "But, my Pokémon need to get stronger _now_ if Team Rocket's around here..."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about Team Rocket," Lyra proudly announced, sticking her chest out and pointing to herself with her thumb. "I teamed up with Koga of the Elite Four and took them down. They didn't stand a chance." At her statement, Silver's head jerked up and looked at her with wide eyes, mouth slightly opened in surprise. In a matter of seconds, he shook off the expression and replaced it with a chuckle.

"Quit lying. There's no way a weakling like you beat Team Rocket," he smirked. "You really had me going there."

"No, it's true! Even search Slowpoke Well. They were in there cutting off the Slowpoke's tails for money. Koga and I saved them and cleared Team Rocket out of Azalea," Lyra arrogantly explained. _I may be exaggerating the truth, but it seems like Silver doesn't like Team Rocket as well, and I need him on my side if they appear again._ Silver stared at the girl in doubt, his red eyes piercing right into her brown ones intently.

"You're telling the _truth,_" the redhead muttered in disbelief. Suddenly, he jumped back and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Well then, let's see just how good you are!" Lyra suddenly started choking on her own saliva, surprised by the sudden outburst.

"This did not work out the way I planned..." she whispered, biting her lip. "Silver, I just got out of a Gym Battle. My Pokémon are tired. I'll fight you when they get fully healed-"

"Irrelevant. If you are really as strong as you say you are, you should be able to defeat me even _if_ your Pokémon are exhausted," he said, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. The ball burst open and a light blue bat-like Pokémon came out of the light. The bat had no eyes, but fluttered around the field and flapped in front of its Trainer as if it _could_ see. "Three Pokémon each."

"Hey, I saw a bunch of those in Union Cave when I was traveling through there..." Lyra stated out loud.

"Select your Pokémon or be attacked," Silver demanded. People walking by started turning their heads and stopped to watch the battle.

"Hold your Horsea!" Lyra complained, and pulled out a Poké Ball. _That bat thing has wings, so I'll bet it's a Flying-type. In that case, I'll use my Electric-type. _"Mareep, come on out!" The Poké Ball burst open and Mareep came out, looking a little tired and confused. "Mareep, I'm sorry. I tried to convince him to let me heal you, but he won't listen."

"Zubat, Supersonic now!" Silver ordered, and the Bat Pokémon opened its mouth, releasing multiple light blue rings from its mouth at Mareep. When they hit Lyra's Pokémon, it began to wobble back and forth as if it was dizzy.

"Mareep, what's wrong?"

"Now, Wing Attack!" The light blue Bat Pokémon took no time in hesitating and dove down, slamming one of its wings into Mareep's body and pulled back into the air, almost taking off Lyra's hat. Mareep, however, shook its head and faced Silver's Zubat. "The confusion wore off..." Silver scoffed.

"Mareep, Thunderbolt!" Lyra commanded, and Mareep fired a blast of powerful electricity from its body at Zubat.

"Dodge that!" Silver shouted, but he was too late. As Zubat turned around to face the battlefield, it was struck by the electric attack. When the attack faded, Zubat sped around the battlefield, electric sparks leftover from the attack surrounding its body. "Shake it off or else." However, the Bat Pokémon seemed to be in pain and was having trouble staying in the air. It fluttered slowly to the ground and fell down, landing and lying on its stomach. Silver crossed his arms over his chest, looking up at Lyra. "Finish it off. This weakling is finished." Lyra was struck in horror and gasped.

"I would never hurt a Pokémon that's down like that. Your Pokémon is paralyzed, you should use a Parlyz Heal so it can fight again," she replied.

"A weak Pokémon like this doesn't deserve medicine," he coldly remarked and recalled his Zubat into its Poké Ball. "We'll deal with your punishment later." He put the Poké Ball away in his pocket and pulled out another one. "You win that round. Now, let's see if you can fight Pokémon number two!" He tossed the Poké Ball into the air and a round black Pokémon that looked like a floating orb with purple gas floating around it came out of the ball.

"Gastly gaaastly," it moaned.

"Gastly?" Lyra asked, taking out her Pokédex. **"Gastly, the Gas Pokémon. Although it can sneak in anywhere with its gaseous body, it can also be blown away by the wind."** "He doesn't seem to be using the Pokémon he normally uses," she muttered to herself, putting her Pokédex away.

"I was originally going to use these Pokémon against the Gym Leader, but you'll make a perfect training dummy for my Gastly," Silver clarified. "I just caught Zubat in Union Cave, so it wasn't that strong to begin with. But I've had Gastly since Violet City, so it should put up a good fight. If it doesn't, it'll be eating dirt for a week." Gastly faced Silver sadly and looked down to the ground. The redhead ignored his Pokémon and continued to stare out at the battlefield. "Let's begin. Gastly, use Night Shade attack." Gastly rose into the air and fired two black beams with red outlines from its eyes at Mareep.

"Aah! I wasn't ready!" Lyra exclaimed. "Counter it with Thunderbolt!" Mareep's ears became surrounded by electricity and it releases a beam of it from its body, colliding with the Night Shade attack. The two attacks fought for dominance over the other, being equal in strength. "No way! His Night Shade can hold off Mareep's Thunderbolt?"

"Gastly, I want full power _now_!" Silver demanded, and Gastly let out a large groan as it applied more power to the beams. Suddenly, the black beams of energy grew larger and completely absorbed the Wool Pokémon's electric attack and shot straight at Mareep. The attack was so fast and huge that Mareep didn't even have time or room to dodge, and was hit by the attack. Mareep was thrown into the air by the explosion, but was still conscious. Its body, however, was beat up from both this battle and the last one with Bugsy.

"Mareep, no!" Lyra gasped as she watched the Pokémon bounce off the ground as it landed.

"Okay, now let's test out the move I've been teaching you. Use Sludge Bomb, Gastly! And no mercy!" Gastly floated into the air so it was positioned above Mareep, and it opened its mouth, firing multiple globs of sludge from it at Mareep. Quickly, Lyra pulled out Mareep's Poké Ball.

"Mareep, return now!" she called out, the red laser coming out and sucking the Pokémon back inside. The globs of sludge hit the ground, causing a small explosion as they did. Silver stared at Lyra through squinted eyes. She hugged the Poké Ball close to her chest, and she muttered lightly, "Mareep is unable to battle..." His expression changed to a smirk as she put the Poké Ball away.

"Why do you do that?" she asked quietly. "Why do you attack a Pokémon even if its down? I don't get it."

"It's because the Pokémon is weak," he replied. Lyra opened her mouth in surprise, but didn't say a word. "Your Mareep was weak, so it lost. It was still conscious, so it was still able to battle. I just told Gastly to attack a Pokémon that was able to battle." The brunette looked down at the ground and said nothing. "And then you recalled your Pokémon back, saying it couldn't battle anymore. You forfeited the battle for that Mareep. Not only does that make Mareep look weak, it makes _you_ look weak as well." At that sentence, Lyra snapped.

"Weak?" she exclaimed. "I'll show _you_ weak! Marill, come on out!" Lyra tossed a Poké Ball into the air and released the light blue Aqua Mouse Pokémon. It too looked tired, but able to fight. It looked at its Trainer and saw that she was angry.

"Marill, Mair?" Marill asked her Trainer.

"We have to show this guy that we're not weak!" she shouted, and Marill could tell from her voice that she was angry. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded and flipped around, staring at Silver and Gastly intently.

"Ah, I remember this thing. You used this thing to defeat me back in Cherrygrove City. I'm not going to be defeated by it again, however. Gastly, use Night Shade." Once again, Gastly fired black beams from its eyes at Marill.

"Use Water Gun now!" Lyra ordered, pointing her index finger to the ground, prompting Marill to fire a stream of water from its mouth at the ground. Marill rose into the air like a rocket, dodging Silver's attack and getting a perfect bird's-eye-view of Gastly. "And now use Tail Whip attack!" Using gravity on their side, Marill grabbed its tail and started falling, grabbing its tail and swinging it like a ball-and-chain. Silver seemed surprised at first, but then smirked and crossed his arms. "Attack now, Marill!" Marill closed in on Gastly and threw its tail at Gastly. Gastly, however, smiled an eerie smile and floated in place as the tail got closer and closer. However, instead of the tail hitting Gastly, the blue orb at the end of Marill's tail passed right through it, as did Marill's body. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon gasped in surprise and slammed into the ground. Gastly started laughing at Marill's misfortune, but one look from Silver shut it up. "Why didn't Tail Whip work?" Lyra asked herself.

"Normal-type moves don't affect Ghost-type Pokémon like my Gastly," Silver stated matter-of-factually. "I have to say I'm slightly surprised you didn't know this, but you also thought PoisonPowder would actually Poison my Nidoran." He paused to smirk to himself for a moment. "And a mistake like that is what makes you weak. Gastly, Lick attack!" With that, Gastly disappeared from view. At the same time, Marill sat up and shook its head to shake off the pain. It turned its head to face the battlefield once again. As it was turning around, Gastly reappeared right in front of Marill. Before the Water Pokémon had time to react, the Gas Pokémon opened its mouth and extended its long tongue, licking Marill's face upward. Marill was taken by surprise and suddenly its body froze up and started twitching slightly.

"Marill!" Lyra exclaimed in horror. Gastly laughed and jumped back, its eyes started to glow red for another Night Shade attack. Hearing her Trainer's call, Marill shook off the pain and immediately jumped out of the way as Gastly fired a black beam from its eyes, blasting the ground in front of it. "You're okay!" Marill turned around and nodded, then turned back and jumped into the air. "Water Gun now!" Taking in a deep breath, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon fired a stream of water from its mouth at Gastly, hitting it.

"Gastly, get out of the range of the attack!" Silver commanded, and Gastly, while coughing and choking on water, floated upwards, shaking the excess water off its face.

"Aqua Jet!" Marill fired at Gastly like a rocket, water surrounding its body as it sped towards Silver's Pokémon.

"Move out of the way!" Silver shouted, but it was too late. Marill slammed into Gastly at full force, slamming it into a tree. Marill back flipped back and stood in front of Lyra with its arms on its hips. Gastly sunk down to the ground, unable to battle any longer. "Gastly..." the redheaded Trainer muttered in anger and recalled his Pokémon.

"Marill has the Huge Power ability, so its attack strength is powered up," Lyra explained. "How's _that_ for weak?" Silver said nothing for a moment, staring out into the battlefield.

"I must say, I've underestimated you," he replied, causing Lyra to smile. "But you're still weak, and I'm going to prove it with my strongest Pokémon!" Lyra's smiled faded as Silver tossed a Poké Ball onto the field and it released a massive purple and gray Pokémon with a large pointy horn on its forehead. The Pokémon let out a huge roar as it came out of the ball. Lyra gaped at the size of the creature, and pulled out her Pokédex to see what it was. **"Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon. One swing of its mighty tail can snap a telephone pole as if it were nothing but a matchstick."**

"W-what...? That thing is _that_ powerful?" Lyra stuttered, looking at her Pokédex. "Wait, that thing says that Nidoking is part Ground-type! Ground is weak against Water! Good choice, Silver. For me, anyways."

"Type isn't always everything. Only weaklings think like that," Silver retorted. "Nidoking, Horn Attack." The Poison Pin Pokémon let out a large roar and charged at Marill, its head crouched. Each step the huge Pokémon took caused the ground to shake lightly.

"Water Gun attack, quickly!" the brunette said quickly, and Marill jumped into the air once again, firing a spray of water at Nidoking. The attack soaked Nidoking and it stopped in pain, but it shook it off in no time at all and continued charging, swinging its head as it reached Marill. "Oh no! Grab the horn!" Nidoking swung its head upwards to stab Marill with its horn, but the Aqua Mouse Pokémon wrapped its tail around its horn. Nidoking roared in annoyance and whipped its head back and forth to get Marill off. "Again, Water Gun!" Marill unwrapped her tail and jumped off Nidoking's neck, firing a blast of water from its mouth and dousing Nidoking. The Pokémon faced the Water-type in anger.

"Do it, Nidoking," Silver ordered, and Nidoking swung its tail around, hitting Marill with enough force to crush a bus. Marill landed on the ground in a heap, bruised and unconscious from the blow. Lyra ran out onto the battlefield and scooped up Marill in her arms.

"Sorry Marill. I hope you're okay. You battled great out there, so you can have a good long rest now," she whispered to it, and put the Pokémon into its Poké Ball. She sighed and pulled out another. "You're my last shot. I want you to give it everything you've got, Chikorita!" Lyra tossed the Poké Ball and released the green Grass-type Pokémon from the Poké Ball.

"Chiko rii!" it called, ready for battle. It stared up at the large Nidoking staring down at it with a slightly scared look on its face. It seemed like Chikorita wasn't trying to show that it was scared in front of its Trainer.

"We have to be careful of both its horn and tail, Chikorita. A good strategy would be-"

"Nidoking, Peck attack now!" Silver called, pointing at Chikorita.

"Look out, Chikorita! Dodge it!" Lyra shouted, and Chikorita jumped as Nidoking swung its horn, dodging the attack. "Razor Leaf, Chikorita!" The Leaf Pokémon nodded and swung its head, multiple razor-sharp leaves coming out of the leaves on its head and spinning towards Nidoking. The Poison Pin Pokémon simply held up its arm and blocked the attack with no problem.

"Poison Jab!" the redheaded Trainer commanded, and Nidoking's horn started to glow purple with poison. It lowered its arm and started to stomp towards Chikorita.

"Wait for it..." Lyra muttered, and Chikorita seemed to sense that its Trainer had a plan, so it crouched and waited as Nidoking's speed sped up and it started to charge. Soon enough, Nidoking had closed in. "Dodge to the right and use Tackle attack!" Nidoking stabbed its horn forward, but Chikorita jumped to the side, dodging the attack. It then bounced off the ground and slammed into Nidoking's stomach as hard as it could. Nidoking gasped in pain and moved a couple inches, but didn't back down.

"Grab it," Silver ordered.

"Get away, Chikorita! Hurry!" Lyra exclaimed, but the Leaf Pokémon was already caught in the larger Pokémon's grasp. She gasped in horror as her little Pokémon's head started thrashing around, trying to free its body from Nidoking's grasp. As she was about to command her Pokémon, however, she noticed the leaf on Chikorita's head flash gold. _Am I seeing things?_

"Throw it and use Iron Tail attack," the redhead instructed. Nidoking obeyed and flicked Chikorita into the air. Then, its tail started to glow silver as it prepared the Iron Tail attack. Chikorita, however, was not ready to give up and flipped around, the leaf on its head glowing gold. It swung it around and fired multiple Razor Leaf attacks at Nidoking, catching it off guard and pushing it back as it blocked. Silver's red eyes widened for a moment. "Was that a Magical Leaf attack?"

"Magical Leaf?" Lyra repeated, looking at Chikorita as it landed on the ground and stood with the leaf on its head standing straight up. "I've never heard of that attack before..." Golden energy particles started gathering onto Chikorita's leaf.

"Wait, that's not Magical Leaf!" Silver exclaimed. "Nidoking, Knock it down! Quickly, before it-" Suddenly, Chikorita's body flashed gold and the glow faded. The Leaf Pokémon then jumped into the air and fired a golden blast of energy from its mouth, hitting Nidoking and causing a white flash of light as the beam exploded on impact. Dust lifted and scattered as the attack faded. A smaller figure was standing firm in the dust, and a much larger figure was laying on the ground. The dust cleared, revealing that Silver's Nidoking had lost the round.

"No way. That was a huge attack!" Lyra exclaimed. Chikorita walked over to its Trainer, jumping over the unconscious Pokémon to reach it. Silver, meanwhile, gritted his teeth in anger and pulled out a Poké Ball after closing his eyes and turning his head away, putting Nidoking into the Poké Ball.

"Useless Pokémon..." he muttered as it was sucked into the ball. He put away the Poké Ball and glared at Lyra. "Listen, you. You won only because my Pokémon were weak." Lyra and Chikorita stared at Silver with an angry look on their face. He looked around at the crowd that had gathered while they battled. "The battle is over. Scam." The crowd slowly dispersed, and soon all who were left were Lyra, Silver, and Chikorita. Silver approached the two, glaring at Chikorita. "You lucked out in learning SolarBeam at the last minute. Otherwise, Nidoking would have thrashed you."

"Leave my Chikorita out of this," Lyra demanded, picking up her Chikorita and perching her on her shoulder. The redheaded Trainer looked Lyra right in the eyes with his piercing red ones.

"I hate the weak. Pokémon, Trainers. It doesn't matter who or what. I hate to see them hanging around," he said to her, and reached into his pocket. When he pulled it out, Lyra gasped. It was a black hat that the Team Rocket members were wearing. He tossed it like a Frisbee into a branch behind him. "That goes for Team Rocket, too. They think they are big and tough as long as they are in a group. But get them alone, and they're weak. I hate them all." What Silver said reminded Lyra of the day before, when she was heading into the Slowpoke Well. There was one grunt standing guard, and she took him down no problem with just her Marill.

_But why does Silver hate Team Rocket?_ she thought to herself. _Come to think of it, Annie, Oakley, and the guard all seemed to recognize Silver's name. Who is he, and where did he come from?_ Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden movement by Silver. He pointed his index finger at Lyra's chest, looking at her with angry determination.

"You stay out of my way. You won't be an exception if you get in my way," he warned, and turned around. As he walked away, Lyra felt chills go down her spine. Something told her he wasn't kidding.

"The sheer power of his Nidoking would scare anybody," she muttered to herself, then looked at Chikorita. "I can't believe you learned SolarBeam all on your own! Great job!" Chikorita looked simply proud of itself. "Why don't we go to the Pokémon Center and take a rest there."

o 0 o

In the Azalea Town Pokémon Center, the lobby was filled with voices buzzing with murmur from other Trainers. Some excited for their upcoming Gym match, others congratulating their Pokémon on a job well done. Some Trainers were exchanging PokéGear numbers, and two exceptionally smart Trainers were discussing the similarities of Magikarp and Feebas. Lyra, however, was sitting by herself, looking at the map feature of her PokéGear. Johto was so big. It was going to be hard to travel all around it to collect all the Gym Badges, but the brunette Trainer was determined. _I know my Pokémon can do it. I believe in them._

Just then, a little girl with rosy-red cheeks, blue eyes, and brown hair walked up to her. The girl had to have been about six years old, and her hairstyle was definitely unique. She wore her hair in pigtails, but curled them into loops until they tied together with the red hair ties used to hold them up. The pigtails then kept going until the stuck out of the side of her head. She wore a pink short sleeved shirt with a pink pompom in between the collar, and red shorts that matched her hair ties. The girl stared at her for a moment.

"Hey, little girl. What's up?" Lyra asked, looking at the girl with a blank expression on her face. Suddenly, the little girl turned around.

"Grandpa, the girl from earlier is here!" she called. Just then, a man wearing a dark blue robe walked around the corner, smiling as he saw Lyra. His silver hair ended slightly above his shoulders, and was combed back. The little girl from earlier walked and moved to stand behind him.

"Hello miss," he said as he approached her.

"Um, hello," Lyra responded, feeling slightly uncomfortable about the two.

"I saw your battle earlier, and I must say you put up quite a fight," he complimented, smiling. Lyra stared at him with the same expression, however.

"Um, thanks very much," Lyra replied. "But it was my Pokémon that did all the work." He nodded.

"Good answer, good answer," he muttered. "Oh, how rude of me! My name is Kurt, and this is my granddaughter Maisy." He gestured towards the little girl by his leg, and she waved at Lyra. "How would you like to receive some one-of-a-kind Poké Balls?"

* * *

Battle chapter! Almost as good as Gym Leader chapters. ^^ Anyways, that chapter came out alright. Silver battles are entertaining. Sorry this took so long to come out again. Like I said above, my personal life gets involved, and then I barely have time to write. I managed to find more time, however, so I finished the rest of this in a snap.

I can already hear some of you now, so let me just say this: Chikorita learned SolarBeam to tie in with anime Lyra's Chikorita. I have no idea how a Chikorita who's Trainer has _two_ badges manages to learn SolarBeam, however. I think it's ridiculous. But, Chikorita can learn it by TM, and Pokémon seem to learn moves by TM naturally in the anime, so I figured to give them to it.

Also, fun fact: When I wrote this chapter, I was originally going to have Silver's Nidoran evolve into a Nidorino, but as I was writing the battle scene with Nidorino, I just wasn't feeling it, so I re-wrote the Nidorino part, and made it a Nidoking instead. Nidokings are much more intimidating.

One more thing. I've been thinking about this for a while, and I want to hear what you guys thing. Should I have Lyra meet Khoury and they head to Sinnoh where they meet Ash, and then the journey takes on from there, with Khoury traveling with Lyra? That way, it'll tie into the anime. *shrugs* I dunno. Tell me what you think, please! And now, to thank my reviewers:

Thanks so much:

**Nianque**

**DragonforceX**

**Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**pokemondude **(thanks for the review!)

**arkee**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

**JapanDreamer09**

Alright, that's it. Next chapter, Lyra goes to pick some Apricorns for Kurt. I know, boring filler. More of a comedy relief chapter to get away from the last couple serious chapters, if anything else. Well, that's it. Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	14. Going on an Apricorn Hunt

_So, boring filler chapter. Sorry guys. But hopefully, the next few chapters are going to be somewhat exciting. Well, try to enjoy this chapter, at least. ^^_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Silver.

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Nice to meet you, Kurt. My name's Lyra," the brunette introduced, standing up and shaking the short man's extended hand. She then looked down at the young girl and smiled. "Hello Maisy." The young girl returned a smile back at Lyra.

"A very pretty name," Kurt replied.

"Thank you. So what about these Poké Balls? How are they any different from a regular Poké Ball?"

"Each of my Grandpa's Poké Balls have special uses. They're amazing!" Maisy remarked. Lyra put her hands on her hips after attaching her PokéGear to her bag.

"How do I know if I can trust you?" Lyra asked him. It was then that she noticed Trainers gathering around the three of them with wide eyes.

"Hey, it's Kurt!" a male Trainer with indigo hair whispered.

"He makes special Poké Balls, doesn't he?" a female brown haired Trainer across from them asked.

"Maybe he'll make some for us!" All around them, a murmur of excited voices crowded the Pokémon Center. Lyra stared in awe at all the people that knew the man in front of her.

"Is this proof enough for you?" he asked, smiling. She nodded and picked up her bag, pulling the strap over her shoulder.

"I'll go with you. Let me grab my Pokémon first." The group of three broke through the crowd and managed to get to the front desk. Nurse Joy handed Lyra a tray of three Poké Balls, and Lyra pocketed two of them. As she opened the last one and released her Marill, she noticed the crowd starting to gather around them again.

"Kurt, let me come to your shop and make Poké Balls!"

"No, me!"

"He's not worthy! I definitely am! I have three badges!"

"Big deal! _I_ have 6!" Kurt cleared his throat and suddenly, everyone stopped talking.

"I'm just going to take this young lady here for today. And she's _all_ I'm taking." A large, disappointed 'awww' spread throughout the Pokémon Center, and the Trainers walked away, murmuring disappointed whispers to themselves. "Well, shall we?" Kurt suggested, and him and Maisy headed out the Pokémon Center door. Marill jumped up on Lyra's arm and the two headed out together as well. The brunette had to jog to get up to the older man and his granddaughter.

"Excuse me, Kurt?" Lyra piped up.

"Hm?" he answered, not even turning around to face her.

"Why did you choose me? Why didn't you choose anyone else from the Pokémon Center. I mean, I heard one Trainer say he had _six_ badges! I only have one." Kurt was silent for a moment, and at first, Lyra didn't think he heard her, but finally, he spoke up.

"Your battle earlier with the redheaded boy was amazing. I was walking by and I happened to notice that you had just finished your Gym Battle with this town's Gym Leader. You managed to beat that young man in a three-on-three Pokémon Battle with your tired Pokémon. _That_ is a sure sign of a great Trainer." Maisy nodded her head as her grandfather spoke, her pigtails bobbing up and down as her head did. "Speaking of the young man, I'd love to have him participate as well. Did he happen to mention where he was going?"

"Silver? Oh, I have no idea where he went. He tends to... come and go," Lyra said, laughing nervously. "Why him, anyways?"

"He's a powerful Trainer." Kurt paused for a moment as if thinking of the right words to say. "But he needs to care for his Pokémon more. He treats them as tools of war, and not living creatures." Lyra nodded.

"He's stubborn as a Piloswine," she sighed. Kurt stopped and looked at her.

"Do you know him?" he asked.

"Not really. We've... met once or twice," she lied nervously. Kurt stared at her longer, but then turned around and continued walking. The three of them continued walking, but this time in silence. As the three walked, she could feel the stares from other Trainers, both of jealousy and anger. Lyra, however, stared at her feet the whole time, not wanting to connect eyes with any of them. Finally, Kurt and Maisy stopped and Lyra followed suit.

"Here we are!" he announced. Lyra looked up at the unique house and smiled. To the left of the property, there was a larger house-like structure. It had a larger portion connected to it from behind, and the light blue shingles blended in nicely with the white drywall and wood. On the right side, there was a smaller section that looked like it had one large room. Smoke was rising from the concrete chimney on the top. It had the same outside as the house next to it. Both buildings were connected by an opened hallway that was composed of wooden beams and a roof with the same light blue shingles. "This is my home. Maisy and I live in that section of the house." Kurt pointed to the larger building to the left.

"What about over in that building?" Lyra questioned, pointing to the house's little brother next to it.

"That's where I make the special Poké Balls," Kurt answered proudly. "Want to come take a look?"

"That would be amazing! Of course we would, right Marill?" she asked her Pokémon.

"Marill, Mair!" she happily replied. Kurt looked down at his granddaughter.

"Maisy, would you kindly get our other guest and show him to the Poké Ball room?" Maisy nodded, her pigtails once again bobbing up and down, and hurried away, entering the house section of Kurt's house.

"There's someone else?" Lyra asked as they started walking.

"He just got into town, and he came here looking to make some special Poké Balls," Kurt explained, nodding. Once they had reached the structure's door, Kurt opened it and moved out of the way for Lyra to see. There were tools scattered all around the place, such as ladders and hammers, but there was also a water pump by a wood-burning stove. On the walls, there were shelves filled with Poké Balls of many colors. A good portion of them, however, looked like normal Poké Balls, with the exception of two yellow circles on the sides, and a lightning bolt mark on the front.

"Wow..." she whispered to herself. Kurt caught her staring at the Poké Ball with the lightning bolt mark and grabbed one. "This is a Fast Ball. It's made from a Wht Apricorn." Kurt walked over and reached into a bucket, pulling out a white circular fruit with a brown cap on it. He held them next to each other for the brunette to compare. Both objects were the same size and round, but that was all the similarities Lyra could see.

"Back in the olden days, all Poké Balls were made from Apricorns," Kurt explained. "That was of course before companies like Silph Co. and the Devon Corporation mass produced the regular Poké Balls you see today." Lyra was unable to say anything, and she continued to stare at all the Poké Balls scattered on the shelves.

"There are a whole bunch of different Poké Balls in here. Are they all made by you?" she asked.

"Yes, all of the Apricorn Poké Balls are made by me," Kurt replied. Footsteps could be heard behind them, and the two turned around to see Maisy with a boy that looked about Lyra's age with spiky brown hair on his head. Around his neck was a white yin-yang pendant that complimented his white t-shirt and dark blue denim jeans nicely. His pale blue eyes looked at Lyra as they walked further into the room.

Behind him were two small Pokémon, one red and one yellow. The red one, who was to the boy right, had multiple bumps on its head. It had a cream-colored stomach, and each hand had three white claws on it. Behind it dragged a red tail. It too stared at Lyra, but with wide black and white eyes, one of its claws touching the bottom part of its cream mouth.

The yellow one, however, seemed like it didn't want to be here at all. Its body was oval-shaped, with the two yellow prongs sticking out of the top of its head. Often, its bulky yellow and black arms would twitch with excitement and yellow static would surround them. Around its body, it had two black bands around it body, and below its mouth, it had a black lightning bolt mark on it. Its thin black eyes kept darting back and forth between Lyra, Kurt, its Trainer, and the outside.

"This is Cole," Kurt introduced. "He'll be the other person who will go with you to pick Apricorns. Cole, this is Lyra." Lyra smiled and Cole waved.

"Hi Lyra," he said politely. He noticed her eying his Pokémon and smiled. "Oh, this is Elekid-" Cole gestured towards his yellow Pokémon, "-and this is Magby." The Magby looked at Lyra and smiled, but Elekid barely looked at her at all. Wanting to know more, Lyra took out her Pokédex and pointed it at Elekid. **"Elekid, the Electric Pokémon. Elekid's weak spot is between its horns, but the electric that run there can shock the unwary." **Elekid scoffed at the entry, and Lyra pointed the Pokédex at Magby next. **"Magby, the Live Coal Pokémon. Magby has a magma-like substance in its body, and it emits super-fiery breath."** Lyra put her Pokédex into her pocket and motioned to her Marill.

"And this is Marill," she stated. Kurt cleared his throat and everyone turned to face him.

"Okay, now that the introductions are taken care of, we can get started," he said. "Maisy, would you mind taking Cole and Lyra through the path?" Maisy nodded and hurried outside. Lyra and Cole followed suit.

"What was your name again? Cale?" Lyra asked.

"Actually, it was Cole," the brunette boy replied.

"Oh, well, I'm just going to call you Cale," she stated, and smiled widely as he stared at her strangely.

o 0 o

The group walked to the side of the house, and Maisy stopped in front of a large tree. The tree was covered in Wht Apricorns. "You can pick one of these if you want. They look nice and ripe." Lyra looked at Marill.

"Kurt just showed us these, didn't he?" she asked her. "They make..."

"The Wht Apricorns make Fast Balls. Fast Balls work well on Pokémon that run away quickly, like Growlithe or Snubbull," Maisy inquired. Both Lyra and Cole walked up to the tree on that note. However, the tree was too high for either of them to pick a fruit.

"I can't reach. How are we suppose to get it?" Lyra asked aloud. She then snapped her fingers. "I know!" She pulled out a Poké Ball and enlarged it. "This is a job for Chikorita! Do you need me to grab you one, Cale?"

"No thanks. I've got Elekid," he said, looking at the Pokémon behind him. "Elekid, use ThunderShock to get a fruit." The Electric Pokémon nodded excitedly and begun to spin its arms rapidly, causing sparks to appear around its horns.

"Stop!" Maisy suddenly shouted, causing all the Pokémon and Trainers to jump up in surprise. "Using attacks like Razor Leaf and ThunderShock will only damage the tree. And besides, it's the Trainer's responsibility to collect their Apricorns themselves, with little to no help from their Pokémon partners." Lyra grumbled to herself and folded her arms, Marill hanging on and dangling as if her life depended on it.

"Don't worry. I got this," Cole said, smiling and walking up to the tree. As quick as a wink, Cole was climbing up the side of the tree like an Aipom. In no time at all, he disappeared, the only thing giving away his existence was the leaves rustling above. "Catch!" Lyra heard from above, and jumped, running under the tree and reaching above.

"Oh man..." she muttered, and Marill jumped down and reached for the sky as well. The two white fruits fell down with perfect aim at Lyra and Marill. Simultaneously, the fruits fell, went past the two's hands and clonked them right in the head. Both Lyra and Marill grabbed their heads in their hands and started jumping around in pain. Maisy started laughing loudly, holding her stomach as the two flailed in pain. Cole's spiky-haired head poked out from the leaves.

"You were suppose to catch!" he exclaimed.

"I was very bad in Gym class," she admitted, rubbing her hand on the back of her head. Quickly, as Cole climbed down the tree and picked up his Apricorn. Lyra stood up and shook her head and did the same, looking at the Apricorn and studying it slightly before putting it into her bag. "Well, let's move on, Marill!" She waited for a response from her Pokémon and heard nothing. Looking down, she noticed the Aqua Mouse Pokémon wasn't in sight. "Oh, no! Marill?"

"Look, there it is! Running up to that Pnk Apricorn tree!" Maisy exclaimed, pointing to the small blue dot running up the path. Ahead was a tree that had many pink fruits on it.

"Your Marill must like picking Apricorns," Cole commented.

"Marill, wait up!" Lyra shouted, running after her Pokémon in a hurry. Maisy, Cole and his Pokémon all rushed after her as well. When the group reached the tree, Marill was attempting to climb the tree to reach the top. "Marill, you know you can't just go running off like that." The Water-type Pokémon turned around and smiled at its Trainer.

"These Pnk Apricorns make Love Balls. If a Pokémon you're battling is of an opposite gender of yours, it has a better chance of catching it," Maisy explained.

"Aw, that's adorable! I want one!" Lyra excitedly announced, and walked up to the tree to climb it. As if the tree was listening, a pink fruit suddenly crashed down and clocked the brunette right on the forehead with enough force to knock her white hat off. She gave a loud 'oof' as she fell on her butt. "Ow! That wasn't very nice!"

"What did that?" Maisy asked, moving her head to try and get a better look at what was inside. The leaves above started rustling and a purple head peaked out of the brush, giggling to itself. It had purple fur all around its head, except for its fur-less face. It looked down at the group with black and white eyes. It lowered its body, revealing it to be a monkey-like Pokémon with a long tail.

"Ee eep Aipom!" it shouted, another Apricorn in its hand and ready to throw.

"It was that Aipom! It used Fling to throw that Apricorn!" Cole explained.

"You little beast! That hurt!" Lyra shouted, shaking her fist at the purple monkey. This caused the Aipom to laugh even more and it tossed another Apricorn at Lyra, this time missing her shoulder by a few centimeters. "Marill, Water Gun attack now!"

"No, you can't! You'll damage the tree!" Maisy shouted, but it was too late. Marill sucked in a gulp of air and fired a blast of water from its mouth at Aipom, hitting it in the face and knocking it out of the tree. It fell to the ground, but flipped around and landed firmly. The happy-go-lucky face had disappeared and in its place a face of anger formed. The purple monkey jumped at Marill and started repeatedly scratching it with its paws.

"It's using Fury Swipes!" Cole announced just as Marill bounced backwards, knocked out from the attack. Lyra ran up to her Pokémon and put it into its Poké Ball. "That thing is strong! Your Marill didn't stand a chance!"

"Gee, thanks Cale..." she muttered angrily, pulling out her Chikorita's Poké Ball. "Okay, you little trickster, why don't you try Chikorita on for size?"

"Wait, Lyra, why don't you let me take this one?" Cole said, stepping up. Before Lyra could respond, he looked at his Elekid and nodded. "Elekid, go get 'em!" The yellow Pokémon nodded excitedly and rushed at Aipom quickly. "ThunderPunch attack!" Elekid charged and pulled back one of its hands. Its fist then started to glow yellow with electricity and became surrounded in yellow sparks. However, Aipom giggled and its body started to glow white. Suddenly, multiple Aipom appeared and started to circle around Elekid. The herd of Aipoms then started running circles around Elekid. The Electric Pokémon grumbled and started turning its head, trying to find the real Aipom out of the group.

"Okay Elekid, use ThunderShock! Straight ahead!" Elekid nodded and started spinning its arms in a circular motion, yellow sparks appearing around its horns as it gathered electricity. Finally, it fired a yellow stream of electricity from its horns. The beam curved down and hit an Aipom that was running, causing it to disappear. The attack happened so quickly that the others didn't have a chance to stop, and one by one, an Aipom would run straight into the electric attack and disappear. After about three clones faded away, the Aipom closest to the electricity called out in surprise and tried to stop itself. At the speed that it was running, it couldn't stop immediately and skidded right into the ThunderShock attack. The Long Tail Pokémon called out in pain and fell backward.

"Wow, that worked out great!" Maisy exclaimed, excitingly watching the battle. Lyra continued to sit on the ground while watching the battle.

"Elekid, let's try ThunderPunch again!" Like before, Elekid's fist started to shine with yellow electricity and it ran forward. As Aipom jumped back up, it was met with a strike in the cheek, and the purple monkey Pokémon rolled backwards, crying out in pain. Cole took out a blue Poké Ball with two red markings on the top of it and held it in his hand. He looked about ready to throw it, but then Aipom stood back up, breathing heavily and yellow sparks surrounding its body.

"It's paralyzed..." Lyra muttered to herself. "That must have been Elekid's Static."

"Elekid, use ThunderPunch once again!" Cole commanded, but before the Electric-type Pokémon could respond, Aipom jumped into the air. The hand on the end of its tail then started to glow yellow and it swung it, releasing multiple golden stars from it. The stars shot and slammed into Elekid, knocking it back a few feet and knocking it out. Cole bit his lip and replaced the Great Ball with a Poké Ball. "Okay Elekid, thanks. You did your job by paralyzing it." The brown-haired Trainer recalled his Elekid and looked at his Magby beside him, nodding to it. "Magby, I choose you," he stated. The Pokémon nodded and skipped out onto the battlefield. Aipom stared at Magby, breathing heavily as it tried to stand firmly on its feet. However, it looked determined to keep battling.

"Poor Aipom," Maisy whispered, looking worried for the poor Pokémon.

"Don't fight it too much longer, Cale," Lyra called to him. Cole nodded in agreement.

"Magby, SmokeScreen!" he commanded. Magby took a deep breath and huffed out a thick black smoke from its mouth, covering the entire battlefield in the thick dark smog. "Now, Fire Punch!" In the middle of the smoke, Lyra could see a small light appear, then it streaked and disappeared in a blink of an eye, and Aipom came shooting out of the fog, its stomach smoking and burned. The SmokeScreen evaporated and Cole once again pulled out his Poké Ball. "Okay Great Ball, go!" He tossed the blue, red and white orb with precise aim and when the ball hit Aipom, it opened up and sucked it in after turning it into a red mass of light. The ball fell to the ground and began to shake back and forth as the button on the ball started to flash red. Finally, in a flurry of multicolored sparkles, the ball pinged, signifying that the capture was complete.

"Wow, he captured it?" Maisy asked aloud. Lyra slipped on her hat and stood up as Cole pocketed the Great Ball.

"What made you want to capture that Aipom?" the brunette asked when she approached him. He shrugged.

"It had spunk. I liked that," he said, then paused. "It was also pretty funny how it threw those Apricorns at you." Lyra crossed her arms and grumbled to herself as both Cole and Maisy laughed at her.

o 0 o

And so, the group went around, collecting Apricorns from the various trees. Up the path, the two brunettes tried to collect some Ylw Apricorns, but a herd of Pineco prevented them from approaching. According to Maisy, one false move and the Bagworm Pokémon would use Selfdestruct, damaging the tree and themselves. After collecting a Grn Apricorn apiece, they were attacked by a swarm of Beedrill after Lyra accidentally stepped on one's stinger. Much to Lyra's embarrassment, Cole saved them using his Magby and Aipom. Finally, the sun was beginning to set as the trio started heading back down the mountain trail to get back to Kurt's. They had each collected a Wht, Grn, Blu, and Blk Apricorn.

"Welcome back, everyone!" Kurt greeted when they finally reached their destination. "How did they do, Maisy?"

"Not bad, Grandpa," she responded. "Take a look!" Lyra and Cole happily handed the older man their baskets. He nodded happily after examining them.

"These will make fine Poké Balls. I shall be finished with them tomorrow when you wake up," Kurt agreed. "Come by tomorrow morning when you're about to continue on your journey."

o 0 o

"Lyra, are you staying at the Pokémon Center here?" Cole shouted, running to catch up to the brunette. She stopped and turned around to wait for him.

"Hey Cale. Yeah, I am. Want to walk together?" she asked.

"Sure! I was just about to ask you that," he said with a smile on his face. Lyra looked down by his feet and noticed there were no Pokémon around him as usual.

"Don't you usually have a Pokémon at your feet? Where is everyone?"

"It's impossible to walk through town with them. They're trouble makers, so it's hard to keep them in control," he answered. Lyra laughed.

"I have the same trouble with Marill. She has an attention span of a Yanma, so she wanders off a lot." They both laughed and stayed quiet for a bit as the sky started to turn a deep mixture of pink and purple. "So what are you traveling around Johto for?"

"I'm collecting Gym Badges. I'm planning on entering the Johto League," the short haired brunette answered back. "I'm planning on taking on the Azalea Gym Leader soon after I get a Poké Ball from Kurt. What about you?"

"Gym Badges," she stated, smiling as well. "I just won my first badge at the Azalea Gym recently, actually. If I can beat Bugsy, I'm sure you can too." Finally, the two arrived at the Pokémon Center and handed all their Poké Balls to Nurse Joy. As they were about to turn in, Cole reached out and extended his hand to Lyra.

"I'd really like to battle you someday. If Kurt invited you himself, you must be good," he stated, grinning. "Here's hoping we meet again, let it be on the road, or in the Silver Conference." Lyra beamed back and shook the boy's hand.

"That goes for me too, Cale."

o 0 o

The next day, Lyra awoke and made her way over to Kurt's house. She checked with Nurse Joy to see if Cole was still around, but she reported that Cole Harding had checked out an hour before. Quickly, she shrugged off the disappointment and headed to Kurt's. "Lyra, good morning!" Maisy yelled when she approached the property. The older girl waved happily at both Maisy and the shorter man who walked out of the house.

"Good morning, Kurt," she greeted bubbly.

"Same to you, Lyra. Your Poké Balls are one hundred percent complete. Here they are," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out four Poké Balls, each one with a different design. Lyra recognized the first one as a Fast Ball. It was the same ball that Kurt had showed her when she first arrived. "Of course you remember the Fast Ball. Now, this one is a Friend Ball, made from the Grn Apricorn." Kurt motioned towards the green Poké Ball with the four red teardrop markings and the single yellow dot in between them. "The Pokémon you capture in this Poké Ball will automatically share a close bond with you when you successfully capture it."

"The next Poké Ball is a Lure Ball," Maisy explained, looking at the blue Poké Ball with a red pattern on the top of it. On the red part were three vertical yellow stripes. "This Poké Ball is better for capturing Water-type Pokémon." Lyra nodded, trying to memorize what each Poké Ball did. So far, she seemed to be doing pretty good.

"And finally, this Poké Ball is a Heavy Ball," Kurt spoke up, showing Lyra the final Poké Ball. This one had a gray top on it with four blue bubbles around it, two larger than the others. "This Poké Ball works better when capturing heavy Pokémon like Snorlax or Steelix." Kurt gathered all the Poké Balls up and handed them to Lyra. "It's been a pleasure working with you, my dear."

"Thanks so much, Kurt!" the brunette replied, putting the four orbs in her shoulder bag.

"So where are you heading from here, Lyra?" the pigtailed girl next to Kurt asked.

"Well, I came here from Violet City, so I guess the best option is to head west," she replied.

"So the next place you want to go is Goldenrod City. Just go through the Ilex Forest and you'll be there in no time at all," Kurt noted. Lyra thanked the two once again, and after releasing her Marill to walk with her, headed towards the entrance towards the Ilex Forest.

* * *

Let me start off by saying how sorry I am! This chapter took so long to come out with! Two months is not acceptable! Especially for a filler chapter! I'm so sorry again! But, the good thing is that this chapter is out of the way and we can move onto better things! The OC in this chapter, Cole (or Cale as Lyra calls him :P) belongs to **Hotrod198.**

Wow, so much has changed since I last updated! We now have a complete list of Generation V Pokémon, complete with names and Gym Leaders! Anybody else not impressed with this batch? I mean really? Chili? Anyone else not think they're running out of ideas? But, I think I'll be able to accept these Pokémon into the society soon. I've already planted the Generation V seed in this story without you even knowing it. F) Though it's pretty exciting that Pokémon Black and White will be out soon! And the anime has already started as well! Pidove is officially my favorite Pokémon. Though its evolutions can go to Pokémon hell. :) What do you guys think about Generation V? Below are my reviewers for last chapter.

Thanks for reviewing:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DragonforceX**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**arkee**

**Meta-Akira**

**JapanDreamer09**

**Opilacticdreams**

**Eon Penumbra**

**Cyst**

**Chriss111**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

Okay that's it for now! So far, I'm planning on doing a Bonus Chapter about Silver, maybe get away from the usual Lyra routine? I'm not sure right now, but I'm pretty much leaning towards Bonus Chapter. Anyways, thanks for reading/reviewing guys! I'll try not to keep you guys waiting so long, okay? ;D See you next chapter!


	15. Bonus Chapter 1: Stealing the Starter!

_Please note that this chapter is not part of the story, but a 'Bonus Chapter', a chapter that is not part of Lyra's Journey though Johto. Look at these as a 'Pokemon Chronicles' for the series. This chapter takes place between Chapters 1-4. Next chapter will continue with the main story, but for now, enjoy._

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of their characters, including Silver or Professor Elm. All OCs belong to their rightful owners as well.

* * *

**Bonus Chapter 1**

"It took a while, but I finally reached Professor Elm's lab," Silver said to himself, looking at the large light pink building in the distance. New Bark Town was filled with a bunch of nosy people, so Silver had to take the long way around, traveling through the woods behind the town in order to not be seen. He was currently in the 'backyard' of the lab; the section of land where the Trainers who started their journeys in the Johto region held their Pokémon that weren't with them at this time.

There were some Pokémon Silver recognized, and some who he didn't. He was a good interpreter when it came to Pokémon. He could tell the type of the Pokémon just by looking at them. He knew a lot of species of Pokémon as well, mostly because he went to a very expensive school to get his education.

Daddy_ made sure of that,_ Silver thought, thinking of his father in disgust. His father had never paid much attention to him. He thought he could buy his love with expensive gifts while he went off on 'Gym Leader trips' as he told Silver. _Gym Leader trips my ass. _Silver knew exactly where he would go. Off to... that place in Celadon City, until it was destroyed. Now he was somewhere else. His exact location was unknown, and personally, Silver didn't care at all. All he knew was, it has something to do with Team Rocket. His own personal mission: destroy the growing branch of Team Rocket in the Johto region.

In order to accomplish that goal, Silver had to assemble a team of extremely powerful Pokémon, and the rare Pokémon that Professor Elm gave away at his lab would prove to be valuable team members once he trained them to their fullest. So here he was, quickly and quietly traveling through the woods to break in. Sure, breaking and entering was against the law, as was stealing, but the people of Johto will be happy when their streets are cleared of all those black uniformed delinquents. Even if he had to do it one city at a time.

A noise above him knocked Silver out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see a Caterpie staring at him with its head cocked to the side. He had to ignore it if his mission were to be successful; if the Professor found out there was an intruder, he'd lose his chance at getting a powerful Pokémon.

Finally, he reached the side of the building. Staying close against a tree, he could see that the lab faced the town, but was a good distance for anyone to see him. In the distance, he could see a young boy wearing a red sweatshirt and a yellow and brown baseball cap pulled backwards with a Cyndaquil behind him walking away from the lab. _That must be either a new Trainer or the Professor's assistant. Either way, he has a Cyndaquil, so a Typhlosion is off the list of Pokémon to get._ The redhead walked out of the shadows and rushed to the side of the building, standing right next to a window that looked directly into the lab. As he peeked in, he could see the brown haired Professor working on his computer, the window directly above the device. He jumped back in surprise, but the Professor didn't seem to notice him. In fact, he didn't seem to notice anything else going on around him.

After taking a deep breath, he decided it was time to make his move. Suddenly, a female voice spoke to him. "Hi, are you lost? The entrance is this way if you're looking for it," she said. The girl seemed like she was dressed like a clown from Silver's point of view. Her brown hair, which was tied into two pigtails that rested on both of her shoulders, was covered by a large white hat with a red bow around the base of it. She wore a red three-fourth length sleeve shirt under her blue overall shorts. On her legs, she wore white stockings with a black tip that reached all the way up to her thighs, and red slip-on shoes covered her feet. By her feet was a blue and white round Pokémon with big ears and a long tail that had a light blue orb at the end of it; a Marill. Silver glared at the unknown girl.

"No," he replied. "Now, leave, before I make you." The girl in front of him scoffed in response.

"What's _your _problem?" she snapped at him. "I was only trying to help!"

_This girl seeing me here is not good. She has to be disposed of, or at least chased away,_ Silver thought, taking out a Poké Ball from his pocket and slowly walking towards the brunette in front of him. A quick look of fear raced across the girl's face, but before he could release his Pokémon, the Marill jumped out in front of its Trainer and blasted a stream of water from its mouth to the spot in front of Silver, soaking the area as it did. _A warning shot!_ Silver thought in surprise. _I don't have time for this. I can't let the Professor see me._ Quickly, Silver put away the Poké Ball back into his pocket and dashed into the woods next to them.

o 0 o

Silver stopped at the edges of Route 29, stopping and jumping up the tree to see if the girl was pursuing. So far, he saw nothing; her brightly-colored clothing would have stuck out in these woods like an Onix in Cerulean City. His breathing was heavy, so he decided to sit on the branch to catch his breath. He took out the Poké Ball from earlier and stared at it. His starter Pokémon; the Pokémon his father gave him after he was fired from being the Gym Leader of Viridian City: Nidoran .

Silver had his Nidoran for almost a year now, and it was fairly strong, but it could use some more work. He sighed once his breath had returned to normal and jumped back down. He would walk slowly and retrace his steps. If the girl had informed Professor Elm about Silver, than his plan was going to fail.

The redhead made it back to the lab in ten minutes by walking. Quickly looking around, he could see that the brunette that had encountered him earlier was not outside. He rushed to get to his original position, but positioned himself so his back was against the wall. That way, he'd have a better view if someone made their way around the corner like before.

Silver poked his head around the corner and peered into the window. Professor Elm was in the same spot that he was in when the redhead escaped. There was something different, though. Everything seemed to be in order, except for one minor detail. Silver's keen eyes could tell that something was out of place from the last time. That was when he spotted the machine that held the starter Pokémon. _There's only one left!_ he thought, biting his lip. He shook his head, however. _No __matter; just be glad that there _is_ one left._ Silver nodded his head. It was time for his plan to begin.

He reached into his back pocket and took out a pair of rubber gloves and a navy blue bandana. He held his hair up as he tied the bandana around the back of his head to hide his nose and mouth and conceal his identity, then stretched the pair of black gloves over his hands. He snuck his way to the back entrance, a Rhyhorn and a Sentret looking at him briefly before returning to his business. Silver reached down and pulled a small paperclip out from the side of his sock, proceeding to pick the lock. The Rhyhorn kept taking glances at him from a distance, and Silver kept his red eyes on it while simultaneously trying to pick the lock. He wasn't worried, though. The redhead knew from his school days that Rhyhorns weren't the smarted creatures in the Pokémon world, but getting hit with its Take Down attack was like getting hit by an eighteen-wheeler.

Finally, he heard a click from the door handle and Silver turned the knob and let himself in. From here, he walked very slowly to the main lobby. It seemed like Professor Elm was the only one in the building, as no one else approached him or was even seen for that matter. Eventually, he had reached the hallway, and he could see Professor Elm clearly. His back was against the wall, watching the man, but he hadn't the slightest clue that anyone else was in the room with him. Very slowly, he inched his way over to the console that held the Poké Ball with the unknown starter Pokémon in it. The device itself was closed, and it was covered in a light blue glass dome that could be opened with a press of a button. Silver slowly made his way over to the console whilst keeping his eyes on the Professor type away at the computer.

The redhead reached out to touch the button when he froze and looked at the desk next to it. Sitting on top was a bright yellow Pokédex. _A Pokédex will help me with my overall mission greatly,_ Silver thought, and reached out to grab it. However, at that moment, the Professor let out a sigh and sat back in his chair with his hands on the back of his head, looking at the computer screen in content. The sigh startled the redheaded boy, and his body jumped from surprise. As his body lurched, his hip hit the button that opened the machine, and the glass doors opened with a loud beep and hiss. Immediately, his eyes darted to the Professor, who turned his head to see what the commotion was.

Their eyes locked for a moment, and Silver turned around in an attempt to run out of the door to the back. However, the Professor shouted and jumped out of his chair, knocking it over in the process. "Thief! You will not escape!" In an instant, he pulled out a Poké Ball from his lab coat and tossed it into the air. A burst of light came out of it as the orb opened and formed right in front of Silver's path. The light condensed and a pink and white Pokémon with large pink branches or horns on its head, a Corsola, appeared. Silver bit his lip and jumped backwards so that his back was against the wall, facing both Professor Elm and his Pokémon.

"Tch, I guess I have no choice..." Silver muttered, but it was muffled by the bandana. "Nidoran, go!" The redhead tossed the Poké Ball from his pocket, releasing the purple rabbit-like creature from the orb.

"Corsola, we have to stop this thief at all costs! Use BubbleBeam!" Professor Elm called. Corsola opened its mouth and a light blue orb formed inside its mouth. It then fired a stream of light blue bubbles from the orb at Nidoran.

"Dodge that!" Silver ordered, and the Poison Pin Pokémon obeyed, jumping out of the way of the attack. Silver also had to jump out of the way to not get hit by the BubbleBeam. "Very good, Professor. Not only are you trying to knock out my Pokémon, but you're also trying to strike me as well. I never would have guessed you'd be that kind of person. Nidoran, Poison Sting attack!"

"Counter with Spike Cannon, Corsola!" Professor Elm retorted. Nidoran landed on the ground and it opened its mouth as it prepared the attack. Corsola, on the other hand, crouched together so that its horns were pointing at Nidoran and its body started to glow white. As Nidoran started to fire light purple darts from its mouth, Corsola shot back with white darts from its horns, each needle hitting and canceling each other out. "Keep firing, Corsola!" As Elm rooted for it, Corsola's Spike Cannon attack started to become more faster and powerful. Soon enough, the Poison Sting attack was no match for it, and they hit Nidoran, knocking it back.

"Get up now! There's no time to be laying on the ground. Horn Attack!" Nidoran shook off the pain and got up, running towards Corsola with its horn pointed at it.

"Alright Corsola, use AncientPower this time!" Elm commanded. As the white glow faded from the Coral Pokémon's body, it was replaced with yet another white glow. The glow then separated from Corsola, forming into a faded afterimage. The afterimage then began to compress and spin, forming into a silver orb. Corsola then fired the orb at Nidoran.

"Double Kick!" Silver ordered. Nidoran jumped into the air, dodging the silver orb and flipped in the air. It then outstretched one of its back legs and fell towards the pink Pokémon, kicking it square in the forehead. However, the Poison Pin Pokémon wasn't finished with its assault, and it bounced off Corsola's body, spinning its body around again and reaching its other leg out, striking Corsola once again. Silver smirked. _Rock-types are weak against Fighting-type attacks._ He was right, and Professor Elm's Pokémon looked hurt badly, but the brunette man didn't look worried.

"Corsola, Recover," he called. Corsola struggled to move, and when it did, its body became surrounded in a rainbow colored light. In an instant, all of Corsola's wounds had disappeared and it looked ready to battle once again. Silver scoffed.

"I should have known better. You _are_ a leading expert in Pokémon, after all," he murmured, looking around the room to devise a plan. _Looks like I'll just have to grab the Pokémon. My knowledge on Pokémon should pay off somewhat. The Pokédex is a lost cause._ Finally, a plan clicked in Silver's mind, and he smirked, but the gesture was hidden from Professor Elm by the bandana. "Nidoran, Sludge Bomb!" The Poison Pin Pokémon did as it was told and fired a ball of sludge from its mouth at Corsola. _The explosion will give me good cover for my escape._ As Nidoran fired the ball of sludge, Silver charged at the console holding the lone Poké Ball.

"Corsola, Mirror Coat!" Elm countered, and the Coral Pokémon's body become surrounded in a yellow and orange aura, and the Sludge Bomb stopped just inches away from hitting its target. In an instant, the ball of explosive sludge curled around and headed straight at Nidoran. The purple rabbit-like Pokémon was surprised at the Sludge Bomb and had no time to dodge. The Sludge Bomb hit and exploded with twice the normal power due to Mirror Coat's reflective ability. It was at that moment that Professor Elm realized Silver was at the console, grabbing the Poké Ball sitting there. "Stop him, Corsola!" he shouted loudly.

"It's been fun, Professor, but I'm going to have to declare this battle a draw," Silver looked over at Nidoran to see if it was still conscious. Inside, the redhead sighed a sigh of relief as the purple Pokémon struggled to get up. "Nidoran, Toxic attack!" The Poison Pin Pokémon nodded and opened its mouth, releasing a thick black smoke from its mouth. The smoke quickly filled the room, and Silver held his breath; one breath from the Toxic fumes and he wouldn't be able to escape. With incredible speed, Silver pulled out Nidoran's Poké Ball and recalled it as he dashed across the room, pocketing both Poké Balls and rushing out the front door.

Professor Elm, while having a coughing fit from the lack of oxygen, rushed quickly to open the windows and doors. Soon enough, all the Toxic fumes had exited the room, and although he himself was unharmed, his Corsola had fainted from Poisoning. As he rushed up to it, he noticed the redheaded boy was gone with the Totodile's Poké Ball. He gasped and took out his PokéGear right away, scrolling down to 'Ethan' and pressing call.

o 0 o

"Come out," Silver stated, opening the Poké Ball in front of him. He had escaped the lab unharmed, and although the mission didn't go _exactly_ as planned, he still received one of the powerful starter Pokémon from Professor Elm. The Poké Ball opened and a flash of light blue light appeared in front of him. The light then condensed into a light blue Pokémon with a yellow stripe across its chest. Down its back were two magenta stripes, and in between them were two spikes of the same color.

"Toto!" it cried, looking around at its surroundings. Silver took out a small piece of lined paper from his pocket. He had planned this break-in from Viridian City, his hometown, and was sure to study up on the three starter Pokémon in case he accidentally grabbed a different Poké Ball. On the notebook paper, there was an image of a light blue Pokémon that looked exactly like the one standing in front of him.

"Good, I grabbed the right one. 'Totodile', huh?" Silver stared at the Pokémon in front of him. "My name is Silver. I am your new master from here on out." He looked down at the paper with his handwriting scrawled across it. "Says here you're a Water-type." Totodile nodded and fired a Water Gun from its mouth into the air. "Don't show off." The redhead turned around and released his Nidoran. Then, he took the gloves and bandana out and tossed them into the air. "Get rid of the evidence." In a flash, Nidoran fired a Poison Sting from its mouth, turning the articles of clothing into nothing but shreds of cotton and leather that floated away in the breeze. "Let's begin your training, Totodile."

* * *

Lol, I can't believe I came out with a chapter in less than a month! 0-e I probably just jinxed it, but whatever. XD Now, if you didn't realize by now, this chapter takes place when Lyra goes to visit Mr. Pokémon. I always found it annoying how you'd never see how the break-in went. Professor Elm really is oblivious to everything around him in the anime, so I didn't really get how he would notice Silver there. Chapter came out alright in my opinion. I guess I liked the battle scene, but I couldn't really do much about it when they're in a cramped up room, right?

Black and White is out! I got Black Version myself. It's pretty good so far, other than the fact that the Pokémon are still strange, but I'll get used to them... hopefully. Although it's so right to have a Pidove! I've been waiting since June to get one. :)

I wanted to use Generation V attacks in this battle, but since this takes place in the past, I couldn't really use those kind of attacks. XD But I'll finally be able to look at the Generation V table when I look at attacks now. :D As a side note, does anyone else throw up in their mouth when they hear the names 'Hilbert and Hilda' as the main characters' names? Oh and because she requested it, this chapter is dedicated to Asuka. :P

Thanks for reviewing:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DragonforceX**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**Mamepato's Daydream**

**arkee**

**JapanDreamer09**

That's it for this chapter! Next chapter, we continue with the main story! Lyra makes her way through the Ilex Forest to get to Goldenrod City, and she comes across not one, but two strange people in the middle of the woods! See you next chapter, and thank you for reading/reviewing!


	16. Synchronized Battling

_Back to the main story, guys. Since last chapter was a Bonus Chapter, it's going to throw all of my other chapter numbers out of whack on Fanfiction. XD Well, enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Silver, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 15**

Lyra took a deep breath of the fresh Azalea air and smiled proudly as she stepped outside of the Azalea Town Pokémon Center. "Marill, our win at the Azalea Town Gym proves that our luck is turning around. I think it's time to head out to Goldenrod City! Our win there is guaranteed!"

"Marill!" the Pokémon replied, happily smiling along with its Trainer. Lyra started walking to the west and took her PokéGear out from her bag.

"According to Kurt, we have to go through the Ilex Forest in order to get to Goldenrod City," she said. "I wonder what kind of Gym is there? The Gym here is a Bug-type Gym, and the Violet City Gym is a Flying-type Gym." Her mention of Falkner's Gym made her silent for a moment, remembering how quickly and smoothly Falkner had beaten her. Out of three Pokémon, Falkner only lost his Hoothoot. Then his Pidgeot wiped the floor with both Marill and Chikorita.

"Marill, Mair?" Marill asked, cocking its head at its Trainer's facial expression.

"Just remembering our match at the Violet City Gym," Lyra answered, smiling. She paused for a moment, remembering how much control Falkner had with his Pidgeot; how it moved so gracefully to dodge Chikorita's Razor Leaf, and how it quickly switched from Wing Attack to Whirlwind to blow away PoisonPowder. A sudden tap on her cheek woke Lyra up from her memories, and she looked down. Her Marill was staring at her with a cross look, shaking its head. This immediately brought a smile to Lyra's face. "I guess you're right. This isn't the time to be worrying! That was my first Gym Battle, and I that was back when I didn't have much experience." Marill nodded and smiled once again. "And besides, we've got Mareep on our side this time. He's an Electric-type Pokémon, which is excellent against Flying-type Pokémon."

"Marill!" the Water-type Pokémon agreed. After strolling a bit further, Lyra reached the entrance to the Ilex Forest. The scene made Lyra shudder. Even though it was the middle of the day, the forest looked dark because of all the thick trees. The only thing that could be seen was the long path that disappeared into the darkness. It was like watching a horror movie, where you would yell at someone not to walk down the dark path in the middle of the woods, but still they walked. And like the people in the horror movie simile, Lyra walked into the forest as well.

o 0 o

"Wow, the trees here are really thick..." Lyra noted, looking into the sky above, seeing nothing but green leaves stretching as far as the eye could see. "But as long as we stick to the main path, we shouldn't get lost. That means no wandering off, okay Marill?" No longer did she say that, a light green Pokémon with a yellow face and a large bud on its head came dancing out of the woods and onto the path in front of Lyra and Marill. "Oh, look Marill! It's a Budew! It's so adorable!"

"Budew!" it cried happily, twirling about once more before dashing off into the woods on the opposite side of the path it appeared on. Marill laughed and jumped down, giving chase to the Bud Pokémon.

"Marill! What did I just say?" Lyra shouted, chasing after her Pokémon. The woods were thick, and it was almost impossible to see the Water-type. It would have been if Marill didn't have the long tail that ended in a light blue ball that clashed with the dark green scenery. "Come back, Marill! We're going to get lost in this forest!"

Finally, Lyra pushed her way through the vegetation and came across a clearing in the middle of the woods. At the edge of the clearing, a small wooden shrine stood, weather-beaten but still standing strong. In front of the shrine was a tall woman, looking at Lyra in surprise with her bright mahogany eyes. Her palatinate purple colored hair reached down to her upper back, back her bangs were short and sectioned so they both barely touched each of her eyebrows. Her radiant cream colored skin was flawless, and she wore a saffron colored frilled collared, button-up tank top, and a bright red skirt. Marill was next to the woman's feet looking at Lyra as well. "Marill!" it cried out, and jumped into its Trainer's arms.

"Marill, I know you mean well, but you can't go running off like that," Lyra said to the Pokémon, taking out its Poké Ball and recalling it inside. She then smiled at the woman and walked up to her. "I hope my Marill didn't bother you too much." The woman laughed and shook her head.

"No, it was just fine. You came through soon after, so it didn't have time to do anything," she said. She hesitated for a moment. "You don't happen to know the way out of this forest, do you? I'm afraid I accidentally wandered off the path and ended up here."

"Sorry, miss. I tried to remember where the path was, but Marill took so many sharp turns and zigzags that I lost track of the direction I was heading." Lyra looked around, but there didn't seem to be anything that resembled a path.

"It's no problem, really," she said sweetly. "My name's Tamao, by the way."

"I'm Lyra. I'm a Pokémon Trainer from New Bark Town."

"Wow, New Bark Town. That's pretty far away. I'm from Ecruteak City myself."

"Oh, are you a traveling Trainer, too?" Lyra asked. Tamao shook her head.

"No, I had to go to Cherrygrove City to run an errand. I was walking back and something caught my eye, so I just had to see what it was. Turned out it was nothing but a green Beedrill."

"A _green_ Beedrill? Are Beedrills normally green?" Lyra asked, taking out her Pokédex for reference. After doing a quick manual search, the yellow bee-like Pokémon appeared on the screen. **"Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokémon. This Pokémon is an evolved form of Weedle, following its Kakuna stage. Its sting is highly poisonous."** Lyra paused, staring at the picture. "It's yellow... It was a different color!"

"It wasn't exactly what I had in mind," Tamao said, smiling.

"Wasn't exactly what you had in mind?" Lyra repeated. "What's more important than a green Beedrill?" Tamao laughed.

"Obviously you've never heard the legend about this forest."

"Legend?" The purple haired girl nodded and looked at the old shrine next to her.

"Do you see this shrine? It was built many centuries ago. It's to honor the Guardian of the Ilex Forest, Celebi." Lyra, who still had her Pokédex in hand, manually looked up Celebi as well. **"Celebi, the Time Travel Pokémon. Celebi wanders across time as guardian of the forest. Wherever it appears, trees and grass flourish."**

"I remember this Pokémon from back when I went to school," Lyra muttered. "This is a legendary Pokémon, isn't it?" Tamao nodded and smiled.

"Now you know what's more important than a Shiny Beedrill," she teased. "I'm really into old legends, so of course when I saw the green body and white wings, I had to find out if it really was Celebi." Lyra sighed and sat down on the ground.

"Now we're lost. How are we going to get out of this forest?" Suddenly, the trees behind them started to rustle, as if someone or something was jumping through them.

"Lost, you say?" a female voice called. Then, a girl appeared on one of the branches, standing on it with one of her hands leaning on the trunk of the tree. On her head, she wore a green and black cap that pretty much covered her honey colored hair, all except for one strand of hair that stuck out, which was colored bright pink. She wore a purple and black hooded coat of some kind, and a bandana that was tied around her neck stuck out from under it. She wore knee-length brown shorts, and on her feet were plain black flip-flops. Her skin was very tanned as if she had been outside in the sun for a long time. "I could help you out, if you want." Lyra stood up, looking up at the girl in surprise. She didn't expect anyone would appear in the trees!

"Who are you?" she asked, fixing her white cap.

"Leah Ringer from Celadon City. State your names as well."

"I'm Lyra. I'm from New Bark Town," the brunette stated.

"My name's Tamao. I'm from Ecruteak City. Do you know the way to get to Goldenrod City from here?" Leah smirked, her turquoise blue eyes reflecting flakes of green when she did.

"Let's just say I know my way around this forest," she said. "I've been looking around for Poison-type Pokémon and training my own for the Johto League here for a couple of days now. I've pretty much explored most of the forest here."

"So you'll show us the way back?" Lyra questioned happily, taking a step forward. Suddenly, from her camouflage belt, Leah grabbed something as quick as lightning and chucked it. The black object stuck into the ground in front of Lyra's red shoe. The object was four-pronged, and all four prongs ended in a point. Right then and there, Lyra froze. The shock of the object inches away from stabbing her foot was unbelievable. Tamao stepped forward and pulled out a Fast Ball.

"You can't just go and chuck shuriken at people! You could hurt someone! Who do you think you are?" she shouted. The girl smirked once again.

"I didn't say I would let you out for free..." the ninja-girl replied. "You're both Pokémon Trainers, right? Let's battle!" Tamao shook her head and put away her Poké Ball.

"I refuse. If you're going to be violent about it, I will not battle the likes of you." Leah shook her head, shrugged and smiled.

"Have it your way then. I guess you _don't_ want to know the way out," she replied. Lyra shook the chills off her body and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"I'll battle you, Leah," she stated. "I need the training for my Gym match at the Goldenrod Gym anyway." Leah smiled with confidence and front flipped off the tree. While still in the air, she pulled out a Poké Ball from her pocket and tossed it like she did with the ninja star. As she landed on the ground with perfect grace, the ball burst open and released a Beedrill from it. The Pokémon flapped its wings and flew in front of its Trainer.

"Spee!" it said, jabbing one of its hand stingers forward. Tamao moved out of the way to make room for the two to battle.

"How's a two-on-two Pokémon battle sound to you?" Leah suggested. "And if you recall your Pokémon, it cannot be sent out again."

"Sounds good to me," the brunette nodded, pulling out a Poké Ball from her side bag. "Mareep, come on out!" The yellow and blue sheep Pokémon came out in a flash of light and bleated happily at being called out.

"A nice choice, Lyra from New Bark Town. If you don't mind me asking, is your Mareep a male or female Pokémon?" Lyra was taken aback by the question. No Pokémon Trainer had ever asked about the gender of her Pokémon before.

"Um, Mareep's a boy. Why do you need to know?" she asked. Leah smirked, the green flakes in her eyes showing up once again.

"Oh, no reason," she replied slyly. Lyra shrugged off the question and proceeded with the battle.

"Okay Mareep, let's start this battle with ThunderShock!" Yellow sparks immediately appeared around Mareep's ears and it fired a light blue blast of electricity from its body at Beedrill. The electricity stream was too quick for the Bug-type Pokémon to avoid and was struck by it.

"Beedrill, get out of there!" Leah shouted. The Poison Bee Pokémon started to flap its wings hard and waved one of its arms, knocking away the electricity. Though its body was singed a little, it seemed to be fine. "Okay Beedrill, Attract!" Beedrill spun around in the air and flew closer to Lyra's Mareep. It then put its front stingers together in front of its body and a large golden heart appeared in between them. Beedrill then opened its stingers and the heart shot at Mareep.

"Lyra, you have to make Mareep dodge that!" Tamao called. When she shouted, Lyra was distracted by her voice and was unable to command Mareep. The golden heart struck Mareep, splitting up into several other hearts that started floating around Mareep's body, and Mareep's eyes became covered over with pink hearts. Lyra's Pokémon then started to sway back and forth as if it was in a trance of some kind.

"Attract?" Lyra muttered, not exactly understanding the concept of the attack. "Attract as in '_in love'_?" Tamao nodded. "So Mareep is _in love_ with Beedrill?"

"Exactly! And Mareep wouldn't want to hurt little Beedrill, would it?" Leah teased, putting her hands together next to her head. Her Beedrill looked at Mareep from the side, putting its stingers by its head much like its Trainer. Mareep called out in happiness and started to run towards Beedrill. "Poison Jab!" In the blink of an eye, Beedrill shot at Mareep, its wings buzzing at an incredibly fast rate. It pulled one of its arm stingers back and it started to glow purple.

"Mareep! Look out! It's a trap!" Lyra shouted. However, Mareep was too blinded by love to stop. To it, Mareep thought Beedrill was rushing up to it to be with it. As the Wool Pokémon jumped into the air, ready to wrap its little blue arms around Beedrill, Leah's Pokémon struck the glowing purple stinger forward, jabbing it right into Mareep's stomach. The Pokémon gasped out for air as it shot back down to the ground, slamming into it with enough force to startle multiple Hoothoot and Noctowl from their sleep and fly from their nests to a different location.

"That should do it for this match," Leah stated, putting her hands on her hips. The multiple colored bands on her left wrist clinked together as she did. However, the Wool Pokémon shakily stood up from the small hole it made from its descent. The hearts that had covered over its eyes while in its trance were now gone.

"Mareep, are you okay now?" Lyra asked her Pokémon, prompting the Electric-type to nod in response. "Good! Let's strike it with a Thunderbolt attack!" Quickly, Mareep fired a beam of yellow electricity from its body at Beedrill, shocking it once again.

"Beedrill, Pin Missile!" Leah commanded. Beedrill did as its Trainer commanded and knocked away the electricity once again. It then stuck out both of the arm stingers on its arms and they started to glow white. It then fired multiple thin white needles from them at Mareep. The needles didn't seem to be doing much, but they stopped Mareep from moving and put it in a defensive position. "SolarBeam!" Beedrill flew up into the air where a small pillar of light had escaped through the trees and fluttered through it. The wings on its back started to glow white as it started to gather energy.

"Oh no! Mareep, we have to stop that attack at all costs! Use Thunderbolt!" Mareep nodded at its Trainer and fired another beam of yellow electricity from its body. However, the blast was too slow and Beedrill was too high up, and finally, Beedrill's wings flashed gold, signaling that the SolarBeam was ready.

"Beedrill, fire!" Beedrill put its arms forward and both of the stingers started to glow gold. It then fired a powerful white beam of energy from the stingers. The two attacks collided and struggled for a moment, but the SolarBeam pushed through and blasted Mareep.

"Mareep!" Lyra exclaimed. As the dust cleared, the sheep Pokémon was knocked out on the ground. "You put up a good fight Mareep. I'm so proud of you." She returned her Pokémon back into its Poké Ball as Beedrill buzzed down back in front of its Trainer.

"Well, one more Pokémon left, Lyra. Who's the next Pokémon that my Beedrill will skewer?" Lyra bit her lip and thought.

_Beedrill is both a Bug and Poison-type Pokémon, both of which are strong against Grass-types like Chikorita. I guess the only other option is Marill,_ Lyra thought, pulling out her Marill's Poké Ball. _That SolarBeam attack is going to be a problem, however. We'll have to get rid of Beedrill quickly._ "Okay Marill, let's go!" The Water-type Pokémon burst out of the Poké Ball and landed in front of its Trainer, ready to battle.

"Marill!" it cried.

"Before you attempt to use Attract again, let me inform you that my Marill is a female. Since it's the same gender as your Beedrill, your tactic won't work against it," Lyra explained.

"True, but I have other methods of beating Water-type Pokémon. Remember SolarBeam?"

"How could I forget? I'm just going to have to make sure you don't use the attack," Lyra said, smirking. "Marill, Aqua Jet now!" Marill's body became surrounded by water almost immediately, and it shot off at Beedrill like a rocket.

"Beedrill, dodge it!" Leah commanded. Just as it was about to, however, yellow static surrounded Beedrill's body and it cringed in pain just in time for Marill to slam into the Poison Bee Pokémon.

"Seems like Mareep's last Thunderbolt did more damage than we thought, eh Leah?" The ninja-girl grunted in anger.

"Beedrill's paralyzed?" she muttered to herself. "Then we'll have to do this quickly. Beedrill, knock Marill away with a Pin Missile attack!" As Leah's Beedrill plummeted to the ground, one of its arm stingers started to glow white, and it fired a large needle of white energy the same size as the arm stinger from it at Marill, who was directly above the Poison Bee Pokémon.

"Rollout attack, Marill!" Lyra commanded, causing Leah to gasp in surprise. Marill quickly crouched its body into a ball and started to spin around quickly. Then, using the fall as momentum to power up the attack, Marill shot down at Beedrill, completely knocking away the Pin Missile attack and driving Beedrill into the ground, giving one last spin before jumping away and back in front of its Trainer. In the small hole, Beedrill lay twitching, unable to battle any further. Leah blinked in disbelief, but pulled out her Pokémon's Poké Ball and recalled her Beedrill.

"Good battle, Beedrill," she whispered, and put away her Pokémon's Poké Ball. In a flash, she pulled out yet another Poké Ball. "Crobat, go!" In a flash of light, a large purple bat-like Pokémon with four wings was released from the ball.

"Cro!" it cried, and flapped all four of its wings. Despite having four wings, each time it flapped them, they made no sound at all. It stared at Lyra with its piercing yellow and red eyes, sending chills down her spine. She took out her Pokédex to get a better outlook. **"Crobat, the Bat ****Pokémon and the evolved form of Golbat. With two additional wings, Crobat is able to fly much faster than Golbat."**

"Crobat can also move around silently, making it a perfect addition to my team!" Leah explained. "Use Aerial Ace!" Almost immediately, Crobat flipped around in the air and shot at Marill, white streaks surrounding its body as it glided through the air. The attack itself was so quick that it could both Pokémon and Trainer by surprise, and soon enough, Marill was flying through the air, crying out in pain. Soon enough, the white streaks disappeared and Crobat turned around to receive its next command.

"Marill, blast it with a Water Gun!" Lyra shouted. Marill quickly recovered while still in the air and fired a stream of water from its mouth at Crobat. The stream of water struck Crobat and knocked it back. The blast itself didn't do much damage, but managed to catch it by surprise. "Hurry Marill, Rollout attack!" Once again, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon curled its body into a ball and fell towards Crobat, who was still recovering from the Water Gun attack. The Pokémon landed on the ground on its back, and Marill landed as well, rolling towards the fallen Bat Pokémon with incredible speed and power.

"Crobat, Secret Power!" Leah commanded, smirking. Instantly, Crobat's eyes flashed open and its entire body started to glow pink. Suddenly, green tentacle-like energy rose from the grass around Marill and wrapped around it. The tentacles stopped Marill in its tracks, and soon enough, Marill's eyes started to droop. When the energy around it disappeared, Marill fell over onto the ground.

"Marill! Is it knocked out?" Lyra asked. Leah shook her head in response.

"Secret Power is a move that has different attacks based on the terrain we're on. Since we're battling on a grassy terrain, Secret Power puts your Pokémon to sleep," Leah explained. "Crobat, Shadow Ball!" Taking to the air once again, Crobat opened its mouth and formed a black and purple ball of energy in front of it. It then fired the ball at Marill, the explosion tossing it into the air.

"Marill, you have to wake up!" Lyra shouted, her heart pounding like a bass drum in her chest. Leah smirked, already knowing that she had won the battle.

"Aerial Ace." Once again, Crobat's body became surrounded by white streaks as it dived at Marill's sleeping body that seemed to be suspended in the air. Everything was in slow motion to Lyra, and although it only took a second for Leah's swift Crobat to reach Marill, it seemed to take days. Finally, Crobat struck Marill, propelling its body to the ground. The brunette rushed up to her Pokémon and picked up its limp body. Crobat flew down to its Trainer and Leah congratulated it with a pet on the head before returning it to its Poké Ball. "I win this battle," she said smugly.

"It was a good battle," Lyra replied, also letting her Marill take a rest in its Poké Ball. "Now, can you show us the way out now?" Leah pretended to think for a moment.

"Um, no, I don't think so," she said, giggling to herself. "I forgot to mention it, but I'll only show you the way out of here if you _win_ against me." Lyra stood up and stood with her chest out angrily.

"That isn't fair, Leah, and you know it," she stated.

"Now, if Miss Perfect over there would like to battle against me, you have another chance at winning." The ninja-girl pointed at Tamao with one hand while playing with her bright pink lock of her with the fingers of her other hand. Lyra frowned, but Tamao stepped forward with confidence, her red skirt flowing in the slight breeze that passed through the trees.

"I accept your challenge. If it means getting out of this forest, then so be it," she announced with brimming confidence.

"You're awfully confident for someone who just saw me battle and win," Leah stated. Tamao ignored her.

"We'll battle with one Pokémon each. The winner will be decided when the opponent's Pokémon becomes unable to battle," the purple haired beauty affirmed.

"You'll choose your Pokémon first, however," the ninja-girl added. Tamao nodded.

"So be it." She once again pulled out the Fast Ball from earlier and tossed it into the air. "Umbreon!" she called. The ball opened up and released a bright flash of light that condensed and formed into a black cat-like Pokémon with multiple yellow bands around its legs and ears. There was also one smaller yellow circle on its forehead.

"Umbreon!" it cried, glaring at Leah with its intense red eyes. The ninja-girl studied Umbreon for a moment before smiling. Lyra was fascinated with the cat-like Pokémon, and took out her Pokédex to learn more about it. **"Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon, and an evolved form of Eevee. The rings of Umbreon's body glow faintly when exposed to the moon's aura, and it gains a mysterious power."** Leah smirked after Lyra put away her Pokédex.

"Umbreon also have the ability to spray a poisonous sweat from their pores, so I'll have to fight poison with Poison!" she understood, taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it into the air. "Let's go, Muk!" The red and white sphere opened up and a Pokémon that looked like a giant pile of purple sludge came out. Immediately, Lyra gagged from the smell the Pokémon gave off and plugged her nostrils with her fingers.

"Oh my god, that smell is awful! It's making my eyes water!" she called. Leah's Muk seemed to look sad and its body sank slightly. Leah growled at Lyra.

"Excuse me! That's my first Pokémon you're talking about!" she shouted. "It's alright Muk; in my book, you're good the way you are." This seemed to cheer up the Sludge Pokémon and it got ready for battle. Tamao and Umbreon, however, took no time to get ready and the purple haired woman gave her orders right away, much to the surprise of Leah.

"Umbreon, Quick Attack!" she commanded. Immediately, Umbreon took off and ran at Muk, moving so fast that it left behind a white trail of energy behind it as it ran. "Agility!" Umbreon dashed to Muk's left side as Muk prepared to block an attack from the front and it became surrounded by a white aura. It then dashed and slammed into Muk as hard as it could, pushing the purple Sludge Pokémon into a tree. The Moonlight Pokémon then jumped back, awaiting further orders. Leah and Lyra gaped in surprise at Tamao.

"For someone who didn't want to battle, she sure is doing a good job..." Lyra commented.

"Ms. Perfect and her Umbreon are perfectly in sync with each other; Umbreon knows exactly what its Trainer wants from it," Leah scoffed. "This girl's been with her Umbreon for a long time, that part is obvious. We need to stop it from moving around so much, otherwise we won't last very long. Muk, use Toxic attack!"

"That won't work! Umbreon, use Screech attack!" Tamao ordered. As Muk opened its mouth to release the Toxic gas, Umbreon started to call out loudly, the air around it distorting from the irritating pitch. Leah's Muk stopped its attack and held its arms to its ears, sinking down into a puddle of sludge to try and get rid of the high-pitch sound. "Now, use Toxic attack yourself!" Umbreon stopped shrieking and back flipped to make some distance between it and its opponent. It then crouched its body and opened its mouth, releasing a thick spray of thick purple liquid from its mouth. The stream fell apart into droplets of all sizes and fell onto the ground, creating multiple thick puddle of bubbling purple sludge on the ground all over the battlefield. The puddles then started releasing a thick purple gas from them that covered the entire battlefield.

"I'm afraid you've made an error," Leah said, smirking. Though she could not see Tamao's face, she could only imagine the look on it, and the thought caused her to grin evilly. "Since my Muk is a Poison-type Pokémon, it isn't affected by Toxic. Maybe you _aren't_ so perfect after all. Muk, suck it down!" Muk, inside the poisonous gas, stretched its body and opened its mouth wide, sucking in the thick gas and enjoying it like it was its favorite meal.

Finally, the gas started fading away, and in a matter of moments, it was gone. As soon as it disappeared, Leah looked to see the facial expression of her opponent. She was shocked to see that instead of surprise, the purple-haired girl was smirking. She then noticed right away that Tamao's Umbreon was missing as well. "W-where's that Umbreon!" Tamao's eyes locked with Leah, and her bright mahogany eyes glanced to a certain spot on the battlefield. Once Leah noticed what Tamao had showed her, she gasped. Off to the side of the forest's clearing, there was a small hole in the ground. "Amazing..." Lyra whispered. "She knew that Toxic wouldn't affect Muk, but made for a good cover for her Umbreon to Dig underground without Leah knowing."

"It could be anywhere now..." the ninja-girl muttered to herself, scanning over the whole battlefield with her turquoise eyes for signs of underground movement. After a moment of nothing happening, Leah became impatient and gridded her teeth. "Alright Muk, if it isn't going to attack, we're going to strike first! Use Sludge Bomb right into the hole it went into! We'll stink it out!" Muk stretched its body so that it was high enough to reach the hole without moving from its spot and fired a stream of thick brown sludge from its mouth with precise aim at the opening in the ground. Much to the two's surprise, however, it filled up in a matter of seconds.

"Umbreon, now! Faint Attack!" There was a sudden rustling in the trees above the battlefield and suddenly, the Moonlight Pokémon jumped out of one of the trees and fell straight for Muk. Before Leah could reply with anything at all, Umbreon pulled back one of its paws, and as it was about to land on Muk, it stabbed it with its front paw, right on the top of the Sludge Pokémon's head. Umbreon then flipped with amazing flexibility and landed in front of its Trainer. Muk, however, let out a groan of defeat and slumped to the ground. Leah gasped and ran up to her Pokémon to cradle it. Lyra simply stared at Tamao as she kneeled down and hugged her Umbreon.

"Astounding..." the brunette murmured. "She was two steps ahead of all of us. She _knew_ that Leah would have her Muk suck in the Toxic gas, so she had her Umbreon Dig a hole and jump into a tree. She then pointed out the hole to Leah and made her focus on the ground while Umbreon was above planning an aerial assault..." Tamao pulled out her Umbreon's Moon Ball and recalled the Pokémon.

"Okay Leah, I battled and beat you. Now can you please see us through the forest?" she asked. Leah sighed and returned her Muk.

"A deal's a deal. I'll walk you to the exit to get to Goldenrod City," the ninja-girl replied, standing up and smiling a friendly smile for once. Lyra rushed up to the two and smiled.

"Tamao, that was a really great battle!" she said to her friend. "Are you sure you're not a traveling Trainer? Because I think that if you went around Johto and tried to collect the badges, you'd have a pretty good chance of winning the Johto League. I wouldn't stand a chance against you." The purple-haired Trainer laughed and a small amount of pink coloring appeared at her cheeks at the same time.

"That's very nice of you to say, Lyra, but I only battle if it has a good purpose," she replied. From a distance, Leah called the two of them, waving her arm.

"You two better hurry up, or I'm not showing you the way!" she called. The two quickly walked up to Leah and strolled through the woods. "So Tamao, what's your secret? You and your Umbreon are perfectly in sync. It knows exactly what you want during battle, and you don't have to speak a word to each other."

"It's all just about communication. I've been Umbreon's Trainer for years now, and we're beyond best friends." Lyra was silent, but spoke up.

"I've been Marill's Trainer ever since it was a baby Azurill for a couple years now. Sometimes, I swear we sync, even if it is a second, but then it's gone just like that," Lyra explained.

"I have the same issue with my Muk," Leah added. Tamao smiled sweetly.

"I'm sure it will happen with both of you eventually. It didn't happen overnight with Umbreon and I. We've been partners for a long time, ever since I was 10 years old." Both of the younger girls nodded, and Lyra smiled proudly. Not only did she wish to share a bond with Marill, but with all of her Pokémon as well. She was determined to be a great Pokémon Trainer just like Tamao.

* * *

I really liked how this chapter turned out in my opinion. I personally thought it was going to be boring, but the battles and different variety of Pokémon made it for a great battle chapter! Before I state anything else, let me just mention that the OC Leah Ringer belongs to **Desk Jet.**

**Please read this, because this is important if you have submitted an OC to this story.** Now, as I'm sure many of you know, Generation V is among us. And with it came many new Pokémon and, of course, new attacks. So, I've decided to unlock the Treasured Resonance OC topic in my forum for a couple of weeks. I believe I will close it back down on **April 18****th**. Take this time to update your Pokémon's attacks.

Now, I'm sure some of you are probably thinking, "Okay Alex, but what if I want to add a Generation V Pokémon to my group?" Well, over the next two weeks, you're free to do whatever you wish to your OC. However, there are a few rules:

If your character has appeared in Treasured Resonance already and has stated their hometown, you're not allowed to change that hometown.

If your OC has appeared in Treasured Resonance already, you are not allowed to get rid of a Pokémon that has already appeared in the story.

If you want to add a Generation V Pokémon to the list of Pokémon and the character is not from the Unova region, please ask me via PM before you do. If it's a good enough reason, I will allow it.

That's just about it. If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me! Now to quickly thank my reviewers:

Thank you:

**DragonforceX**

**arkee**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**DK114**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**JapanDreamer09**

Thanks for reviewing everyone! Next chapter, Lyra exits the Ilex Forest and comes across an old friend! That's all for this time. Thanks for reading/reviewing, and see you next chapter!


	17. Childhood Memories

_If you haven't seen the Author's Notes for last chapter, I highly recommend you go back and look if you have submitted an OC for this story, because it's a little important. If you haven't, well, continue reading the story. ^^ Either way, enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 16**

After a couple hours of walking, Lyra, Leah and Tamao finally got to the exit of the forest. It was so nice to Lyra to finally be able to see the sky once again. However, since they had spent most of the day lost in the forest, instead of the sky being a bright blue color, it was a strange color with layers of orange, pink and purple. "Thanks for showing us the way out, Leah," Lyra thanked. Tamao respectfully bowed to the younger girl as a way of saying thanks as well. Leah just simply smiled, but her eyes showed that her mind was a million miles away. Tamao noticed this, and decided to ask her about it.

"Are you feeling alright, Leah?" she asked, her mahogany eyes filled with worry. "You haven't been acting like yourself." Leah sighed and smiled lightly.

"I'm fine. It's just... our battle got me thinking. In the past, I traveled around the Kanto region, getting my Poison-type Pokémon stronger under the orders of my Masters: Master Koga and Janine." Lyra gasped with happiness.

"Koga's your master?" she asked. "I met Koga not too long ago! He helped me deal with a group of bad people back in Azalea Town. He's very powerful." Leah nodded.

"I'm from Celadon City, but I used to travel to Fuchsia City all the time to see all the unique Pokémon in the Safari Zone. One time, I was going to visit Fuchsia City when I noticed an injured Grimer on the side of Cycling Road, the safest route to get to Fuchsia City from Celadon. Seeing no other option, I captured it and brought it to the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center to be healed. It was then mine from there on out."

"That Grimer was your Muk, right?" Lyra asked. Leah smiled that distant smile and nodded.

"Finally, my tenth birthday came around, and I decided to travel around the Kanto region to collect badges. So I did, going around and collecting Pokémon I felt were good enough to help me with it. I had about three badges when I went and challenged Master Koga to a Gym Battle. I was surprised at the strength of his Pokémon and he wiped the floor with me.

"After seeing how calmly and swiftly he defeated me, I begged him to teach me the way of the ninja. After a couple days of pestering, he finally agreed. He taught me the art of ninja, as well as how to perfectly control my Poison-type Pokémon. The lessons didn't last very long, however, before he was offered a spot on the Johto Elite Four. When he headed out, he advised his daughter Janine to teach me the rest. However, she wasn't as experienced and wasn't as in tune with her Pokémon as her father. After a while, Janine advised me to head out on my own and finish collecting the badges all around the Kanto region." Leah paused and stared into the multicolored sky.

"So, how'd you do?" Lyra asked, interested in the ninja-girl's story.

"I managed to collect all the badges and make it into the Pokémon League. My Pokémon had grown magnificently, and I thought I could take on even the Champion! That was, however, until I was beaten in the first round." Lyra gasped slightly. Tamao looked at the younger girl with interest.

"I moved onto Johto under the advice of Janine, but I've been questioning my battle style ever since my loss at the Indigo Plateau. The way I hopelessly lost back there showed that I still have a lot to accomplish." Tamao smiled, and finally spoke up after minutes of being silent.

"That is what being a Pokémon Trainer is all about. Growing and learning to be in tune with your Pokémon," she stated sweetly. Leah seemed like a great idea hit her, and she instantly clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Miss Tamao, I would be greatly honored if you would train me to be more in touch with my Pokémon!" The purple-haired girl seemed taken aback by the request, but smiled once again.

"I'm sorry, but I've got business of my own that needs to be taken care of," she said, shaking her head. "You're missing the point, though, Leah. Other people can't tell you how to get in touch with your Pokémon's inner thoughts and feelings; only you, the Trainer, can." Leah was silent for a long while as she thought about Tamao's response.

"Tamao, Lyra, thank you. Thanks to you two, I now know what I must do," she finally said, bowing in respect.

"And what's that?" the brunette asked.

"I'm going to train in the Ilex Forest some more. It's nice and quiet in there, and it'll give me some time to get stronger, get in touch with my Pokémon's feelings, and develop our own battle style!" Leah explained. Tamao giggled to herself.

"That's the spirit, Leah. Good luck." Leah nodded, then looked at Lyra and smirked.

"Lyra, I hope to see you in the Silver Conference so we can get a rematch. If you're not there, I'll personally hunt you down, got it?" Lyra smiled to herself and gave her friend a thumbs-up.

"You got it, Leah."

o 0 o

The two left Leah at the edge of the forest and continued up the path of Route 34, the last Route before Goldenrod City. "You think Leah will find her own unique battle style?" Lyra questioned.

"I think sooner than Leah expects, it will come to her," Tamao replied, smiling brightly.

"Do you think I'll find my own battle style someday?" the brunette asked, stretching her hands up to the back of her head. Tamao laughed to herself, causing Lyra to give the older girl a strange look.

"Lyra, I think you already have your own unique battle style and you don't even know it," she responded. Lyra stopped for a moment, surprised at the response.

"My own battle style and I don't even know it...?" she repeated, hearing the words echo in her head. She giggled to herself and jogged to keep up with Tamao. "It's a good thing that Leah asked you if you could train her and you refused." This time, it was Tamao who stopped in her tracks from the remark.

"I'm afraid I don't understand." Lyra grinned cheekily at Tamao.

"_I_ was going to ask to be trained by you," she stated, and both of them laughed heartily. As the two continued down the road, feelings started to rise up as the brunette looked around. She had felt like she had been here before. "That's really odd..." she muttered. The older purple-haired girl glanced at Lyra with a confused look on her face.

"What is?"

"I just feel like I've been here before..."

"Are you experiencing Déjà vu?" Tamao asked. "The feeling that you've been to this place before, but you've never seen it?" Lyra shrugged.

"I really have no idea. I mean, I think I remember being here, but I don't have any memories of it."

"Maybe you've been here in a past life," the older girl suggested with a grin.

"I don't know; it doesn't really feel that way... If only it was lighter..." Suddenly, a voice sounded in the dim light, slightly frightening both of the females.

"Lyra?" the voice asked. To whom the voice had mentioned, it sounded very familiar. The voice almost sounded as if it was...

"Ethan!" Lyra called in happiness. Sure enough, from out of the tall grass to the left of them, Lyra's childhood friend strutted out, a look of disbelief on his face. The two cheered and ran up to each other, giving each other a high five as a greeting. "Ethan! How have you been? It's been so long since we've seen each other!"

"I know! I didn't think I would see you until I got back to New Bark Town!" Ethan exclaimed. He noticed the taller girl next to Lyra, a slight blush crawling up his face unknowingly to the two females. Lyra noticed the glance and smiled.

"Oh, this is Tamao. We met up in Ilex Forest after we both got lost. Tamao, this is Ethan. We grew up with each other in New Bark Town," Lyra introduced. Tamao bowed in respect at Ethan, and the boy did the same, but shakily. "So what are you doing in the middle of Route 34? It's getting really late to be looking for Pokémon."

"My grandparents own the Day Care on this Route. They usually search around to see if there are any abandoned Pokémon eggs around. I've been staying at their Day Care for a couple days." Immediately, Lyra snapped her fingers as the memories clicked together.

"That's right! Now I remember why I felt like I had been here before. You and me once stayed at your grandparents' Day Care for a weekend when we were, like, five!" Tamao laughed for a moment, then glanced at Ethan.

"You must be very honored to be related to people who are so famous around these parts," she stated.

"Ethan's grandparents are famous?" Lyra repeated.

"Oh, yes! The Day Care couple are known throughout the Johto region for their kindness and hospitality."

"Not to mention that they're always raising at least one Pokémon," Ethan said proudly. "Yup, for a couple of old fossils, they sure are awesome."

"Can we go? I'd like to show them how well I've raised Marill!" Ethan nodded, but Tamao cleared her throat.

"You two go on ahead. I was expected to be home by now," she said. Lyra stared for a moment before grinning at her new friend.

"Okay. I hope we meet again, Tamao," she replied, sticking out her hand to shake it. Tamao elegantly shook it and chuckled lightly.

"I have a feeling we will, Lyra," she concluded. "Good-bye for now." As the two friends watched the taller woman walk away, Ethan glanced at Lyra.

"Were you acting as her bodyguard?" he asked with a side glance. Lyra laughed in response.

"No way, we just met up in the forest. I watched her battle in there, though, and I have to say, she's so much more stronger than she looks." Ethan was astonished, but brushed it off in a matter of moments.

"Well, we should get going. I'm sure my grandparents would be more than happy to let you spend the night," he suggested, fixing his yellow and brown cap. So the two started to continue up the road, not saying much to each other, though they both had the same thing on their mind: Silver. Finally, deciding to break the ice, the two sighed.

"So how have you-"

"What's the progress been-" the two spoke at the same time, and stopped themselves when they heard the other speak. Lyra giggled to herself and gestured her hand towards Ethan.

"You first," she proposed.

"I was going to ask you about..."

"Silver?" Ethan nodded his head solemnly.

"I haven't even seen a sighting of him. I've traveled from New Bark Town to Goldenrod City, keeping my eyes out as I did. Everyone I ask hasn't seen him either." Lyra rolled her eyes at his comment.

"Lucky you..." she groaned. "I've been seeing him everywhere." Ethan stopped and gasped.

"You have? Where?"

"Like I said, everywhere. He's amazingly strong, and he thinks of me as an enemy or something, because every time he sees me, he forces me into a battle with him."

"Is he...?"

"He's still got the personality of a pompous Tauros. Rude and horrendous as can be, too." Ethan was silent as he processed this new information.

"What about the Totodile?" Lyra was stunned at the question.

"Haven't you talked to Professor Elm lately?" she asked him. He shook his head.

"Not since taking off. I've talked to my parents a couple times, but I've been trying to keep my eye out for _him_."

"His Totodile evolved in Violet City, and he's continuing to train it." Ethan paused with a confused look on his face.

"It evolved? You've told Professor Elm, right?" Lyra scoffed and looked angrily at him.

"Of course I have! I talk to Professor Elm all the time, unlike a certain navy blue-haired boy I won't mention," she replied smugly, causing Ethan to laugh nervously. "He told me to keep following Silver. He wants me to see how Croconaw is growing and developing." With a growl, Ethan crossed his arms.

"That's where me and Elm see differently. If I was Elm, I would have told you to take it anyway. That Croconaw does _not_ belong to that mean Trainer, and all of his Pokémon should be released so they don't have to suffer from that abuse!" The brunette next to him grumbled and whipped her hand out, smacking him in the head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Think about it, hothead! That Croconaw evolved from a Totodile that was suppose to be given away as a _Starter _Pokémon. It evolved from the hard training Silver put it through. It thinks Silver is its Trainer now. In our last battle, Silver didn't use Croconaw, but I think if we gave it a choice in the matter, it would choose to stay with Silver." She paused for a bit to study Ethan's reaction.

"Who's side are you _on?_" the navy blue-haired boy asked, causing Lyra to groan in response.

"You're _impossible_ to reason with, Ethan."

o 0 o

"Grandpa, I'm back!" Ethan announced as they approached a large house. The place was a two or three story house with a beautiful red roof on it. The house itself was painted white and square in shape. There was a large white tower protruding from the back of the house with a brown pointed roof on it. The house was large and the yard itself was very big in size as well, separated from the surrounding land by a round wooden fence that circled around the house. To the right of the house was a small pond surrounded by rocks. In front of the house, a fit older man was standing by a Cyndaquil, who had the fire on its back lit. Several burnt patches on the ground suggested that Cyndaquil had been using Fire-type attacks. The man had pale brown eyes that looked tired from age, but he seemed to be in great shape for an older male. His graying brown hair was parted neatly on the left side of his head and he had a mustache of the same color on his upper lip. The older man glanced at his grandson and smiled, fixing his olive green suspenders over his dark lavender shirt.

"Ethan, welcome back," he replied in a calm but powerful voice. "Your Cyndaquil here was just finishing up his training, weren't you?" Cyndaquil nodded with delight.

"Cynda!" it replied back. Ethan's grandfather noticed Lyra standing next to Ethan and smiled politely.

"Well, it seems Ethan's brought a friend with him! What a pretty young girl," he complimented, causing Lyra to blush.

"Aw, thanks sir, that's too kind."

"Grandpa, this is Lyra. I grew up with her in New Bark Town. She's the one we gave the Pokémon egg to for her tenth birthday." Ethan's grandfather's eyes lit up.

"Ah, yes! You came to our house one weekend as a little girl! My, how much you've grown! How is that little Pokémon doing?" Lyra smiled and pulled out a Poké Ball from her side bag.

"I'm glad you asked! Okay Marill, come on out!" the brunette called, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. In a flash of light blue light, the Aqua Mouse Pokémon came out and landed on Lyra's bag, holding onto her arm. Ethan's grandfather smiled and studied Marill, much to the smaller Pokémon's discomfort.

"Your Marill is looking spectacular. You've done a great job raising it," he praised.

"Speaking of raising Pokémon, Grandpa, how's my Cyndaquil taking your training?" Ethan asked, putting his hands on his hips. "You really didn't have to train it, y'know."

"It's fine, really Ethan. Business has been slow these days anyhow," his grandfather responded, brushing off the last comment. "Your Cyndaquil worked hard and it was worth it! He learned a new move, but you'll need to practice it more before you actually master it, Cyndaquil." The Fire Mouse Pokémon below him nodded and grinned proudly, looking up at its Trainer. Ethan kneeled down and petted his Pokémon's head in approval.

"Great job, buddy. I'm so proud of you!" Ethan stood up once again. "Thanks a lot, Grandpa. Also, we were wondering if Lyra could spend the night here. We haven't seen each other in a while, and since it's so dark and there's still a while to Goldenrod City..." Ethan's grandfather raised his hand and smiled.

"Say no more, Ethan. It's fine by me, but you'll have to ask your grandmother as well," he replied. Ethan replied with a nod and the two walked into the house, Cyndaquil following behind Ethan and Marill on Lyra's arm. The house was warm and cozy on the inside and it seemed to invite someone in with open arms. To the left area of the house, there was a wooden kitchen area, with food cooking on the stove already. In the back, there seemed to be a door that lead to a pantry of some kind. To the right was a dining room area with an elegant handcrafted table and two handcrafted chairs, as well as a metal fold-out chair. Behind was a living room area with a video phone against the back wall. Lyra made a mental note to herself that there wasn't a television set in the living room, but thought nothing of it. Ethan's grandmother, a petite woman with graying scarlet hair that was pinned up in a blue hair pin, was filing paperwork on the dining room table, and she turned around to see the two walk in with her tired hazel eyes.

"Ethan! Good to see you back, dear," she greeted. "How did the search go? Did you find any eggs?"

"Not today, Grandma," he replied. "I actually wanted to ask a favor. This is Lyra, my childhood friend from New Bark Town. I wanted to see if she could stay the night here tonight."

"If it isn't too much of a bother!" Lyra piped up. The old woman smiled warmly. She wore a tan collared button-up shirt tucked into a long red skirt underneath her forest green apron, which she wiped her hands on before standing up.

"Of course she's welcome. I remember you from when you were a little girl. My, how much you've grown! It's no wonder Ethan's taken a shine to such a beautiful young girl such as yourself." Lyra giggled to herself as she saw her friend's face turn a bright shade of red.

"G-Grandma! W-we're just friends!" he exclaimed. His grandmother giggled to herself and gathered up her paperwork.

"Of course you are, dear..." she whispered to herself in a cheerful manner. "Now, dinner will be ready in a half an hour, so take that time to freshen up a bit. You must be tired after a long day of traveling." Lyra bowed respectfully at Ethan's grandmother.

"Thank you very much, ma'am," she thanked, and proceeded to head upstairs with her side bag. However, the older woman held out her hand to stop Lyra.

"Sweetie, you've done enough work for one day. Ethan, be a dear and carry this young girl's belongings up to the room you're sleeping in. She can sleep on the bunk that you aren't occupying." Ethan would have normally groaned at the idea of carrying Lyra's things for her, and although his face showed a slight annoyance, he said nothing and approached Lyra with his hands out. She smiled and handed him her backpack.

"Thank you, _dear_," Lyra stated sarcastically, winking and sticking her tongue out at him slightly as she did.

o 0 o

"It's really nice of your grandparents to let me stay here," Lyra said, squeezing the tips of her brunette pigtails with the towel that was provided for her when she asked to shower. Ethan was laying on the top bunk with his head resting in his cupped hands, eyes staring at the ceiling and one leg resting on the other. "Though I'm frankly surprised they're making us stay in this room _together_." The boy above suddenly shot up into an upright position and looked down at Lyra, his face looking angry but blushing madly.

"What are you implying?" he shouted, and Lyra laughed at his outburst. Ethan's Cyndaquil raised its head from its sleeping position and looked at its Trainer in annoyance. Marill, however, was fast asleep on the bottom bunk of the bed. It had been a long day for her; for both of them.

"I'm not implying anything. I'm just saying this house looks big enough to have two separate guest bedrooms, don't you think? It has a whole other floor above us; are there not any other rooms upstairs?" Ethan's figure relaxed a bit and he laid back down, looking over the edge of the bed to face Lyra.

"That's the nursery, remember? There are tons of Pokémon eggs and baby Pokémon up there," he replied.

"Oh, right. I think I remember going up there when we were little," she muttered, then giggled. "The baby Pokémon were so adorable!" Ethan grinned and nodded.

"I'll take you up there after supper." Lyra nodded and smiled back. "So, how have things been since you left New Bark Town?"

"Pretty good, actually," the brunette replied. "I've been challenging the Gyms as I travel from city to city." Ethan sat up once again, a look of surprise planted on his face.

"Badges? You mean what Dani, Yoshi and Jackson used to collect?" Ethan's friend nodded her head. "Are you planning on entering the Silver Conference like they did, too?"

"I hope so. I've only got one badge, though I'm planning on making it two once I get to Goldenrod City," Lyra said, smirking. "What about you? Have you been doing anything?"

"Not really. Obviously I've met people who want to battle, but I never even thought about challenging Gyms or anything. I just wanted to find Silver..." Lyra paused, taking a small trip down memory lane.

"You said that you've been staying here for a couple days. You've been rushing to catch up with Silver, and yet you decide to stay here all of a sudden?" Ethan sighed and jumped down from the top bunk.

"I figured that since I hadn't seen any signs of him, he was behind me, so I decided to wait it out here. Plus, it's been a while since I've seen my grandparents," he replied. He stared at her for a moment, then looked around the room. Seeing him do this made Lyra do the same thing. It was a medium cozy room. It didn't have much inside it, save for the wooden bunk bed, the small nightstand beside the bed, and a wooden bureau underneath the window looking outside over the pond. Ethan walked up to the window and looked outside. Since it was pitch black outside, he couldn't see much, except for the reflection of the bright shining half-moon on the crystal clear lake by the house.

"We stayed in this room when we visited here together, remember?" Lyra looked around again. When she didn't say anything, Ethan walked up to the side of the dark brown bureau and pushed it against the wall. Behind it was a picture drawn on the wall in crayon. The drawing, which looked like it was drawn by a pair of children, depicted two small children, one a girl with brown pigtails and the other a boy with messy dark blue hair, frolicking in a field of flowers. Next to the two, a light blue figure was standing next to the boy and a yellow and black figure next to the girl. Lyra gasped as the memories of the two, both five at the time, had sat down and decided to draw the picture of their day.

"I remember now!" she exclaimed, sitting down in front of the image and staring at it with a large smile on her face. She had the feeling as if a large cloud had unveiled itself and suddenly she could feel the memory flooding through her head like a raging river.

_The two children ran out the front door, giggling happily. Both children wore no shoes, but where they were going, shoes weren't needed. There was only one rule here: have as much fun as possible. Ethan's parents were going on a small vacation to the Sevii Islands for the weekend, but the cruise they were taking refused to let children aboard. After much thought and consideration, the two decided it would be best for their little boy to stay at Ethan's father's parent's house for the weekend. During a play date with each other, Ethan had told a younger Lyra that he was going far away for the weekend. This saddened Lyra and almost brought tears to her eyes._

_"B-but Ethan! What if you never come back? There won't be anything to do! Jimmy, Marina and Vincent have a field trip this weekend, and I'll be by myself all weekend long!" Lyra cried. After much begging and pleading, both Lyra's mom and Ethan's parents agreed on letting Lyra go along with Ethan to his grandparent's house. Now, here they were, frolicking through the grass field. Two little Pokémon ran out with them. One was a small light blue Pokémon with two purple antennae on the side of its head. The other was a small yellow mouse-like Pokémon with a black tail, pink cheeks and black fur around its large ears. The two had befriended these baby Pokémon, and they went everywhere with them. Ethan's grandfather had told them their names were Wooper and Pichu._

_"C'mon, Wooper!" a five year old Ethan called to the small Pokémon. He ran as fast as he could, the warm summer sun warming his skin. He wore a white t-shirt with a large red Poké Ball symbol on the front and a pair of light blue shorts. On his face and knee were band-aids from a couple of scratches he had gotten after falling off the sandbox at home. In one hand, he had a silver and blue bucket he had found in his grandfather's shed._

_"Let's go, Pichu!" Lyra shouted, and the little yellow Pokémon happily responded. She wore nothing but a pair of light blue overalls, the legs carefully rolled up so they wouldn't get wet. The two reached the small pond and stuck their feet in, feeling the cold of the water sting their feet. Wooper spent no time jumping in the water, and playfully fired a Water Gun at Pichu. Pichu jumped out of the way of the water and giggled happily. The two laughed at the baby Pokémon, and Lyra reached down, picking up a oval shaped rock that had no edge to it at all. "Look at this rock, Ethan! It's so smooth!" The little boy nodded and held out the bucket._

_"Let's keep it," he suggested. Lyra placed the rock inside, and Ethan picked up his own, which was also smooth but more of a red-brown color. Finally, after watching the two Pokémon drink from the water, the two strolled back into the house, where Ethan's grandmother awaited, smiling sweetly by __the dining room table._

_"Did you collect a rock you wanted from the lake?" she asked. Both of them nodded and climbed up to the table. In front of them was a pair of watercolor and acrylic paints of all colors. "Do you know how to spell your name, Lyra?" The brunette girl nodded._

_"I learned in school. L-y-r-a!" The woman grinned._

_"Great job!" she exclaimed. Ethan, wanting attention, stood up on his chair._

_"I can spell my name, too, Grandma. E-t-h-e-n, Ethan!" he said proudly. The redheaded woman laughed._

_"Very close, Ethan. But you need to change the second 'e' into an 'a'," she corrected. "You should paint your names onto the stones so you know which one is who's. What color do you want your name in?"_

_"I want blue!" Ethan announced, raising his hand._

_"I want red for my name!" Lyra called in the same tone as her friend. Ethan glanced at his friend._

_"You're suppose to pick pink. Girls are suppose to like pink, and boys are suppose to like blue."_

_"Says who?" Lyra asked angrily. "I like red."_

_"Lyra's right, Ethan. Just because she's a girl doesn't mean she has to like a certain color better than others. For instance, my favorite color is green." Ethan lowered his eyebrows in annoyance._

_"Whatever. If it bothers you so much, I'll pick pink. Are you happy?" she said sarcastically._

_"Very," he replied smugly, causing Lyra to lose all anger towards her friend and the three started to laugh. After a while, the rocks were sitting in front of the windowsill, the sun helping them dry. Ethan's grandmother had told them to go upstairs and take a nap while they waited for their rocks to finish, but the two weren't tired, and when they climbed the stairs, Pichu and Wooper were up in the bunk beds waiting for them._

_"I'm not tired. Do we _have_ to take a nap?" Lyra groaned._

_"Me neither," Ethan replied. "This has been the best day of my life!" Lyra agreed and nodded in response. Suddenly, a sneaky grin appeared on Ethan's face and he pulled out a sixteen color yellow box of crayons. "I have an idea," he whispered, shutting the dark brown wooden door behind him. "Let's color a picture on the wall so we never forget this day." The younger Lyra giggled as her friend pushed the bureau out of the way._

"Did they ever find out about this?" Lyra asked Ethan as her little flashback faded. The navy-haired boy shook his head.

"We moved the bureau back to its original spot, and they never come into this room, only to change the sheets of the bed," Ethan said. He walked around to the front of the bureau and pulled open the top two shelves, placing two objects from inside on top of it. One was a pale gray oval stone with the name 'LYRA' painted messily over it with pink acrylic paint. It had two painted objects on either side of the name, one red and one light blue, that seemed to resemble flowers. The other was a reddish brown stone of the same shape, but in blue, 'ETHAN' was written across it. However, the 'A' was painted over an 'E'.

"Oh my god!" Lyra whispered excitedly, picking up the rock with her name on it and studying it happily. She giggled to herself at how messy the handwriting was. "I can't believe these are still here!" Ethan nodded.

"Yeah, I was putting my clothes in here, and I opened the draws to see them there collecting dust," he replied. He stopped for a moment, staring at his rock intently as if something was on his mind about it. As he opened his mouth to say something, he heard his grandmother call up from downstairs.

"Ethan, Lyra! Dinner!"

o 0 o

After a wonderful home-cooked meal of spaghetti and warm garlic bread, Lyra and Ethan both headed up to the third floor to the nursery, where there were a variety of baby Pokémon excitedly awaiting them. The two watched as a newly-hatched baby Weedle started crawling for the very first time, with the help of an extremely shy Elekid who seemed completely different from Cole's Elekid that Lyra had met back in Azalea Town.

A baby Cleffa and Swablu were just learning how to use Sing, but it didn't have enough power to put anybody to sleep, just enough to make you want to blink. The Swablu, only a few weeks old, enjoyed climbing onto people's shoulders, and even though it couldn't even fly yet, that still didn't stop it from trying to jump off and flap its wings to try.

Ethan spent most of his time with a baby Heracross and Riolu. Since they were both Fighting-type Pokémon, they needed a way to spar without causing damage to any of the furniture or various eggs that were kept in many glass containers throughout the whole third floor. Both Lyra and Ethan enjoyed the company of the baby Pokémon probably as much as the baby Pokémon enjoyed _their_ company.

However, after about an hour, the Pokémon's eyes started to droop. The Swablu and Cleffa had stopped Singing, and Swablu insisted on crawling into Lyra's lap instead of her shoulders. Weedle and Elekid were curled up with each other by Weedle's warming lamp. The baby Heracross and Riolu, who were clashing horn with paw wasn't as energetic anymore, and it seemed to be a struggle for them to keep their eyes open. One by one, Lyra and Ethan tucked each baby Pokémon into their respected bed and quietly as possible left the third floor.

Seeing the baby Pokémon yawning over and over caused Lyra to become sleepy as well, and soon enough, she was curled up with her Marill on the bottom bunk of the bed. Ethan, however, lay in the top bunk, listening to the soft snores from his Cyndaquil, the calm and slow breathing of Lyra and her Marill. In his hand, he was holding up a stone in his hand. The moon was directly above the large Day Care, so there was no light coming into the room, so nobody but him knew which rock he was holding.

* * *

Interesting chapter. While there isn't a whole bunch of action, it certainly puts a nice little touch to all the action we've been seeing in the latest chapters. Like I said last chapter, the OC topic on my forum will be staying open for a while, so use this time to fix or edit your OC if you want.

So, this chapter was ready a while ago, but there were two reasons I didn't post it. One: It was during that time when fanfiction wasn't letting people log in, so I had no choice but to wait. Two: I originally was going to make this chapter and the next one a whole chapter, but I'd figured it would be too big and not much would be going on, so I decided to separate them. The bad news is, because of that, I had to write longer, but the good news is, the next update will be quicker! Or maybe I'll update in two weeks whether I finish the chapter or not so I can stay ahead of myself. :) That would definitely be nice to not have to rush myself. The OC in this chapter, Leah Ringer, is owned by **Desk Jet**. And now, I will thank the reviewers of last chapter.

Thank you:

**Nianque**

**arkee**

**DragonforceX**

**JapanDreamer09**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

Okay, that's it for this update. Next chapter, Ethan and Lyra travel to Goldenrod City and come across something very interesting to Lyra. Okay, well, see you next chapter! Thanks for reading/reviewing!


	18. Shopping for Stars!

_This chapter is the chapter that turns the whole story off track for a while. It will either be pretty good, or kinda bad, depending on how flexible your mind is. Also, don't forget to read the Author's notes at the end of the chapter, because they'll be an important announcement. Otherwise, enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 17**

Lyra awoke the next morning feeling fully rested and energized. Checking her PokéGear, she checked the time to see it was eleven forty-three. She yawned quietly, not knowing if Ethan was still sleeping or not. However, a loud snore from above answered her question: yes, he was still sleeping. It had been a long time since Lyra had slept so well without having the feeling of being rushed to get the room paid for. Plus, the mattress was very comfortable; the ones from the Pokémon Center weren't that bad to sleep on, but they weren't great to sleep on either. That was one thing Lyra missed about home: her own bed.

Next to her, her Marill stirred and it sat up, yawning widely before looking at Lyra with half-closed eyes. Slowly, it waved its paw at its Trainer as if it were half asleep. Silently, Lyra put her index finger to her mouth, then pointed up with the other, signing Marill to be quiet because Ethan was still sleeping. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon nodded and the two quietly walked out of the room and down into the first floor area. "Oh, hello dear!" Ethan's grandmother greeted as Lyra walked down the wooden stairs that were cold on the brunette's bare feet. "Did you sleep well?"

"I slept _exceptionally_ well, thank you," Lyra replied. "Where do you keep the Pokémon Food? I need to get Marill a bowl of breakfast." The redheaded older woman stood up and held out her hand.

"You are our guest here, Lyra. I'll get everything you need," she said, shuffling over to the kitchen after pulling out a chair. "Sit dear, I've already cooked breakfast. It's a little cold, but I'm sure it'll be fine." Lyra sat down, fixing her light pink nightgown so the large cream colored daisy was positioned in the middle of her chest.

"Thanks so much, Mrs. Shellby. You really don't have to do this."

"It's no problem at all, deary. Just sit back and relax while you can," the woman responded, pouring a bowl of brown Pokémon Food while simultaneously fixing Lyra's plate of bacon, eggs and toast. "You said yourself that you're going to Goldenrod City to challenge the Gym, correct? Save up your energy for then." Marill trotted up to its Trainer and smiled, patting her leg as if to say 'she's right, y'know'. Lyra smiled down at her Pokémon and listened to Ethan's grandmother hum as she prepared everything. Finally, she arrived, giving her guests their respected breakfasts.

"So where's Mr. Shellby?" Lyra asked when she did put the plate of mouth-watering food in front of her.

"He's started work already. Right now he's upstairs tending to the baby Pokémon. I should have been up there myself polishing the eggs, but my husband insisted I stay down here and wait for you two to wake up," she explained, smiling. A door upstairs could be heard opening, then distantly, another opened and closed. After a bit, the sound of water running could be heard above and the door opened once again. Soon enough, a very tired Ethan walked down the stairs in bare feet, his navy-blue hair messier than usual. He wore a white T-shirt and his regular black shorts, and he stretched and yawned loudly as he reached the last stair on the staircase. His Cyndaquil trotted down behind him and copied him like a Mime Jr. would to its Trainer.

"Ga Ooring," Ethan announced while yawning and walking to the seat where his grandmother was sitting before.

"Morning, Sleepyhead," Lyra greeted, smiling at him.

"How did you sleep, dear? Would you like some breakfast?" Mrs. Shellby asked.

"I slept fine. And yes, please." He wiped a eye booger from the corner of his eye and yawned once again. "What about you, Lyra? It didn't take you long to get to sleep last night. I think you barely had time to get your pajamas on before you fell asleep."

"Playing with those baby Pokémon really tired me out," Lyra explained, giggling to herself. As Ethan's grandmother placed his plate down in front of him, she sat down in front of Lyra with a glass of orange juice.

"They seem to have that effect on everyone. That's why Mr. Shellby and I sleep like Geodudes when our nursery's full," she added, chuckling to herself and taking a sip from her glass. "So Lyra, when will you be heading off to Goldenrod?" The brunette sheepishly grinned as she finished up her eggs.

"In a hurry to get rid of me, huh?" she asked. "Have I been _that_ rude of a guest?"

"Who said that! No one wants to get rid of you!" Ethan exclaimed quickly, jumping up from his seated position. Lyra flinched back at the comment.

"It was just a joke, Ethan, jeez. Take a chill pill," she replied back, looking at him like he had three heads.

"S-sorry..." he muttered and sat back down, looking down at his plate and poked at his breakfast. Mrs. Shellby looked at Ethan with a large smile on her face but didn't say anything.

"I think I'll be leaving in about an hour or so. I still want to shower and finish washing my clothes before I head out, if you don't mind," Lyra said, and Mrs. Shellby nodded.

"However long you need, dear," the redheaded older lady responded and walked off into the kitchen. When she had disappeared from view, Lyra turned her attention towards Ethan and narrowed her eyes.

"What's _your_ issue?" she whispered at him. "Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?" Ethan stuck out his tongue at her, which still had small fragments of bacon still on it. He then looked down at his plate.

"I-it's just..." he started, then paused for a moment. "It's just been a long time since we've last seen each other, and it's a little difficult seeing how we used to see each other every day." The brunette stared at him with her brown eyes intently, then her intent face turned into a moronic grin and she snickered. The snicker caught Ethan's attention and he glanced up at her. "W-what's so funny?"

"I think you liiiike meeee~," Lyra said in a sing-songy voice, poking his arm with her finger a couple times. He flinched back and stared at her, flabbergasted and speechless.

"I-I do not!" he shouted, his whole face turning red.

"The blush on your face says otherwiiiise~" Lyra replied, giggling like a little school girl once again.

"Y-you just caught me off guard with that _idiotic_ question, that's all," he snapped back, then took a deep breath and calmed down. "It's just... this turned exactly into what happened with Yoshi, Dani and Jackson, y'know? We never hear from each other and we hardly ever see each other anymore." Lyra sat back in her chair, her stomach full from the delicious food and sighed.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But you _do_ have my number on your PokéGear, right? You can always call me whenever you want," she stated.

"The phone works both ways..." he muttered back, causing a nervous laugh from Lyra.

"Yeah, well, I've been busy lately." She wanted to tell her childhood friend about the incident in Slowpoke Well with Team Rocket, but from the way he had been acting lately, she decided otherwise. Finally, she stood up and stretched.

"Well, I'm going to go see if my clothes are dry and shower," she announced. "C'mon Marill, you need a shower too. You're starting to smell like a Muk." Marill gave her Trainer a dirty look and walked with her up the stairs. Ethan, however, continued to stare down at his plate, occasionally picking at his eggs with his fork.

o 0 o

"Hello Professor!" Lyra greeted as the face of Professor Elm appeared on the monitor of the video phone. His face seemed to brighten up a bit from seeing the brunette girl. Lyra was fully dressed again, her hair still damp from the shower she took earlier.

"Oh, hello Lyra! What a pleasant surprise!" the Professor replied with a smile. "How have you been? Where are you calling from?"

"I've been great, actually. I'm calling from Ethan's grandparents' house on Route 34. Ethan's here, too." At the mention of his name, Ethan, who was dressed in his normal clothes, showed his head to the camera and smiled.

"Ethan, it's great to see you again after not talking to you for so long!" Professor Elm said, both in a happy and a 'don't-do-it-again' way. The navy-blue haired boy laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.

"Sorry, Professor. I've just been on the lookout for Silver that I haven't had time to call." Professor Elm nodded his head, adjusting the black rimmed half-moon glasses on his face.

"I assume Lyra has filled you in on the details concerning Silver and the stolen Totodile?" With a nod from Ethan, Prof. Elm continued. "So don't go charging in recklessly. If you see him, pursue him from a distance." Lyra laughed.

"The irony in all this is stalking is considered a crime," she said. Professor Elm smiled nervously at the brunette and Ethan chuckled to himself as well. "We know, Professor: stalk him from a distance and see how Croconaw responds to him as a Trainer, right?"

"Technically, it isn't stalking, Lyra. We're conducting an experiment," the older man replied. Lyra shrugged.

"That statement makes us sound like stalkers even more..." she sighed. "All kidding aside, Professor, we know what we have to do." She side glanced at Ethan. "I don't know about _some people_, but I'll check in every once in a while so you know I'm alive." Professor Elm nodded.

"Ethan, I'd like some updates from you as well. This boy doesn't seem all that dangerous, but we don't have much information to back that up."

"Yes, sir, Professor," the navy blue-haired boy responded.

"Bye Professor!" Lyra exclaimed, and disconnected the call. "Okay, now that that's finished, I think it's time for me to pack my bags and head out." The brunette fixed her puffy white hat placed atop her head and stood up.

"Hey, Lyra..." Ethan muttered. "Would it be alright if I..." He paused and looked down at the ground.

"Spit it out, Ethan. I don't have all day," she urged, placing her hands on her hips.

"I..." he said yet again. Suddenly, his face brightened up. "Would it be alright if I walked with you to Goldenrod City? I've been wanting to check out the Department Store, so it all works out!"

"Yeah, sure. It doesn't bother me one bit," she said. "My bag is already packed, so whenever you're ready to go, I will be." Ethan nodded and jogged up the stairs.

_Okay, so that wasn't the question I was going to ask, but I think I'll ask to travel together when we get to Goldenrod City,_ he thought with a smile on his face. _I just hope she says yes!_

o 0 o

"Thank you so much for having me, Mr. and Mrs. Shellby," Lyra thanked, shaking both of their hands happily.

"It was our pleasure, dear. It was so nice to see how much you've grown up," Ethan's grandmother said.

"Now remember Lyra, come back anytime. You're like the granddaughter we never had," the graying brown-haired man added.

"That's really nice of both of you. I'll be sure to visit if I'm ever in the neighborhood," she replied. The older couple turned their gaze towards Ethan, who was standing next to Lyra with his backpack strapped across his upper body.

"Will we be expecting you back for dinner?" the redheaded older woman asked. Ethan shrugged and gestured to the dark blue and white PokéGear strapped around his wrist.

"I'll give you a call to let you know," he responded. With a nod, the two were off, waving good-bye to Ethan's grandparents. Finally, the two were away from them and walked forward with their eyes set on the road, walking towards the multiple skyscrapers that were in the distance.

o 0 o

"So Lyra, how come you don't have Marill out of her Poké Ball? You used to keep her out constantly," he asked, then sneered. "Has traveling changed you _that_ much?"

"It's common sense, Ethan. Marill likes to run off a lot, and we're going to the biggest city in the Johto region! If she gets lost, I'll never find her," Lyra replied, pushing Ethan slightly with her shoulder. "Hey, speaking of traveling, are you planning on going back home once we're done with stalking?" The navy-haired boy looked to the clear sky blue sky in thought.

"I don't really know exactly..." he muttered.

"Will you go for Gym battles, or Contests?" she pressured, staring at him with wide brown eyes.

"I don't even know I would do either!" The brunette grunted at the response and walked with her hands cupped behind her head.

"Well, there's still tons of other options out there. No need to get snippy." Ethan chuckled to himself.

"I would like to explore though. But more slowly next time." The two giggled at the comment. "What I did see of Johto so far was pretty cool." Lyra nodded.

"The Sprout Tower in Violet City was amazing!" she exclaimed. "It's so cool how that whole building is standing up just by that one pillar that moves back and forth like that."

"Well, I didn't see Sprout Tower's inside, I just saw the tall tower and walked right by it," he said nervously. "What I did notice though is that all the buildings look so different from New Bark Town's! And not just the buildings, the clothing and arrangement of everything." As Lyra replied with a nod, the conversation dropped, but it wasn't long until Lyra found something new to talk about.

"Is Goldenrod City big? Silver is challenging the Gyms around Johto to 'test his Pokémon' I think he told me," she stated.

"Well, let's put it this way: it definitely holds its reputation of being the biggest city in the Johto region," Ethan replied. "You were probably right to not bring out your Marill." The two continued up the path, chatting like a couple of Chatot over every little thing. To Lyra, it felt as if they were back in New Bark Town, walking back from the Cherrygrove City Pokémon Center where Nurse Joy taught school. Within the next hour or so, the group arrived in Goldenrod City, and Lyra was speechless at the size of the city. There were many huge buildings everywhere she looked. The streets were filled with people walking around, some carrying shopping bags, others walking with their Pokémon. A few kids walked by with a rainbow of Popsicles in their hands.

"This place is so big! It would have been hard to find my way through by myself. I'm glad you came, Ethan. Without you, I probably would have gotten lost..." she muttered, and Ethan smiled back.

"It's no problem. C'mon, the Pokémon Center is this way," he replied. The two of them walked up the big main street that ran through the center of town, and reached the Pokémon Center, which was luckily right off the main street. Lyra tried to mentally map the path it took to get to the Pokémon Center for when she separated from Ethan, but she didn't think she would be able to memorize it exactly.

"Hey, Nurse Joy, do you have a map or a brochure of Goldenrod City?" Lyra asked. "This place is pretty big, and I think I'd get lost pretty quick without one." Nurse Joy smiled sweetly and reached down underneath the counter, producing a large golden colored brochure.

"That brochure has a map of the city inside, as well as the important places in Goldenrod City, including the Department Store, the Pokémon Gym, and the Pokémon Contest Hall," she explained. "Try to be careful out there, kids." The two thanked the pink haired nurse and walked into the waiting room to examine the map. Lyra flipped to the side of the brochure that featured the Pokémon Gym.

"It says here that the Goldenrod Gym's Leader is a girl named Whitney. 'The Incredibly Pretty Girl'." She read the statement and scoffed. "Well, _someone's _full of themselves." Ethan continued reading over Lyra's shoulder.

"It says that the Gym is a Normal-type Gym. Normal-type Pokémon don't have much weaknesses. In fact, the only other type they _are_ weak against is Fighting-type," he thought aloud, then glanced at her. "Do you have any Fighting-types?"

"Unfortunately not," Lyra replied, shaking her head. "But, I have confidence in my Pokémon!"

"I hope for your sake, she's a pushover..." Ethan mumbled, causing Lyra to give him a death glare. "Do you want to go to the Gym first?"

"Nah, I want to check out Goldenrod City's famous Department Store. I've been dying to go shopping lately, but I figured I'd save my money for when I got here!" Lyra happily said, standing up. She then grabbed Ethan's hand with one hand and held the unfolded map in the other and dragged him outside the Pokémon Center. "To the Department Store!"

o 0 o

"This place is amazing!" Lyra announced as they approached the tall building. The store, which was half Poké Mart and half shopping mall, was eight stories tall (including the roof and basement, which was also used as stores), and with each floor there was different merchandise being sold, from Pokémon food and toys, to everything essential a traveling Trainer would need and more, including clothes, merchandise, food, etc. And Lyra planned on visiting every floor. As they made their way in, a friendly female greeter smiled at the two.

"Welcome to the Goldenrod Department Store!" she stated happily.

"Thank you, ma'am," Lyra replied and walked right in, eying the racks of clothes and shoes all around the large section with a large smile on her face and sparkles in her eyes. She suddenly snapped out of it and looked at Ethan. "Didn't you say you needed something in here?" He shook his head.

"I just wanted to check it out. I've never actually been in here before," he replied.

"Good! Then let's get shopping!" Lyra shouted happily.

o 0 o

"Whew, I'm beat..." Lyra sighed, sitting down on one of the chairs in the building of the sixth floor. Ethan stood next to her, holding two shopping bags, one in each hand.

"You're not even carrying anything! I'm the one lugging around your stuff," he grumbled. The brunette shot him a death glare.

"Quiet, I'm having fun. Plus, the only thing you've bought are a handful of Poké Balls and Potions, so it's understandable why you're being such a Grumpig."

"That's because I only buy what I need, unlike you," he replied.

"Hey! I need all this stuff!" she snapped back. Ethan looked at her with an eyebrow raised and reached into one of her bags, pulling out a stuffed Marill doll.

"What do you need with this? You already _have_ a Marill!" Lyra snatched away the doll and looked at it dreamily.

"It's a present for my mother to remember me while I'm out on my mission," she said, and put the doll back into the bag from whence it came. Suddenly, she gasped and gestured for the bag in Ethan's other hand, which he gladly handed over. She reached inside and pulled out a small yellow backpack. It was a round shape and had a flap over the top which would close with a snap button. There were two stripes going down from the center of it outwards that were red and blue.

"Why'd you buy that? You already have a bag," Ethan asked.

"I know, but that thing is like a duffel bag. It's hard to carry and it's as dirty as can be," Lyra said, switching the materials inside her old bag into her newer one. "Plus, I can carry this one on my back, instead of holding onto one long strap all the time. It's called convenience, Ethan." She untied her PokéGear from the string that was attached to the side bag and sighed. "Though putting my PokéGear in my pocket all the time will be a pain. No pain, no gain, I suppose."

"That's not even the right expression," the navy-haired boy mumbled.

"Don't ruin my fun, you," she grumbled at him, shooting him another death glare. She shoved her old side bag into the trash next to her, as well as all of her trash from inside it, and slipped on the smaller backpack. "Let's get going!" However, Ethan was reading a flier on a bulletin board that was propped against the wall behind Lyra. The brunette walked up to him. "What is it?"

" 'Wanted: Actor or Actress to take part in promotional Johto region video. Must be at least age ten and up. Auditions to be held Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Goldenrod Department Store basement.'," Ethan read. Lyra gasped.

"_Today's_ Thursday! They're holding auditions to be an actress downstairs of this very building!" she exclaimed.

"Wait, you're actually thinking about this?" Ethan asked, looking at her with his dark blue eyes. "I thought brought it up as a joke."

"Ethan, it's every little girl's dream to be an actress! This is an opportunity I cannot pass up!"

"But it's just a video promoting the Johto region." Lyra groaned.

"You need to start thinking outside the box! Sure, it might be a small job, but once people, preferably directors, see this video, they'll think, 'Wow, that girl has some amazing talent as an actress! We need to get her into our movie!' Then from there, I'll make a small cameo in a film, and that will branch out until finally, I have my own movie!" Ethan stared at his childhood friend blankly.

"What's your saying isn't thinking outside of the box, it's thinking like a lunatic," he muttered.

"You'll see, let's go!" she shouted, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the elevator. As Cee-Lo Green's '_Forget You_' played on the speakers directly overhead, Lyra told the woman working in the elevator to hit the 'Basement' button. The bellhop nodded and complied. The elevator lurched to life and started to descend until it dinged.

"Here we are, folks," the older woman replied with a smile as the door opened. Both Lyra and Ethan shivered with chills as the cold air from being underground flooded into the small compact box and they stepped out quickly before the elevator doors would close shut on them. To their immediate left, there seemed to be a temporary wall that was built, and there was a brown hickory door in the middle of it. Taped onto the glass was a hand-written sign that wrote 'Auditions held here!' The brunette skipped up to the door merrily and opened it as Ethan dragged behind, not wanting to be here at all. As they walked in, a boy with bushy midnight green hair on his head who was sitting at a desk reading the local newspaper looked up at the two with his black eyes. With a nervous smile on his face, he adjusted the black rimmed oval glasses in front of his eyes.

"Oh, h-hello..." he greeted. "Are you two here to audition?" Lyra marched up to the desk and smiled widely.

"I am," Lyra spoke up. The boy jumped at Lyra's peppiness and nodded as he reached down and pulled out a clipboard with a piece of paper on it.

"Um, here. If you could fill in the information here, I'll go get my father," he said. Quickly scanning the sheet of paper, Lyra smiled and looked at the boy.

"Sure, but I'll probably need a pen or a pencil," she said sarcastically with a large grin on her face. The boy chuckled for a moment, then looked down at his feet and searched the desk.

"I just had it here a second ago..." he muttered to himself. As he looked to the floor next to him, he gasped. "Totodile! That's not for you!" As he said its name, a light blue crocodile Pokémon jumped up on top of the desk and crossed its arms, the top-side of a pen sticking out of the side of its mouth.

"Toto!" it shouted at the boy. Ethan suddenly became interested and walked up to the front desk.

"A Totodile!" he exclaimed, examining it closely as the Water-type Pokémon watched him with a strange look on its face. "Is it yours?"

"Yeah, I got it from Professor Elm about six months ago," he replied with a sigh, pulling out a small cardboard box and taking out a brand new ballpoint pen. "He keeps putting the pens and pencils for the actors in his mouth." Ethan put his hand to his chin and rubbed it back and forth.

"Normally, _trained _Totodile don't Bite onto things unless they're ordered to. Especially since you've had yours for six months now." The boy looked down at his feet and put a hand on his elbow nervously. A pear-colored collared long-sleeved shirt was worn on his body, and over it was a lime-green v-neck t-shirt with dark green rims around the neckline and the ends of the sleeves. He wore dark blue jeans over his legs that were rolled up by his feet and rested comfortably on his brown shoes.

"I'm not that great of a Trainer, am I...?" he muttered. Ethan closely examined the boy's Totodile once again, receiving another glare from the Big Jaw Pokémon.

"Actually, it kinda looks a bit hungry to me," Ethan deduced, and reached into his backpack, taking out a handful of Pokémon food and putting them on the counter in front of Totodile. The light blue Pokémon looked back and forth between Ethan and the food cautiously, but when Totodile's Trainer nodded, Totodile started to slowly eat. Just then, the door behind them opened, and a man with midnight green hair, almost exactly like the hair of the boy in front of him but less curly, walked out. He wore a viridian-colored collared t-shirt that was tucked into his ironed vanilla-colored trousers. He looked like the boy that was at the front desk, but he was taller and had a larger build. His shoulders were much more broader and his facial features were more prominent.

"I thought I heard other voices out here," the man said in a polite voice. "Are you two here for an audition?" Lyra raised her hand into the air lightly.

"I am! I was just about to start my paperwork now," she replied. The man smiled pleasantly as she walked over to the row of fold-out chairs that were against the wall and sat down to start.

"Great," the man stated, and looked over at the younger version of himself. "Any problems here, son?" The younger boy shrugged.

"Same as usual; Totodile ate the pen that we had out." The boy pointed to Ethan. "But he suggested that Totodile was just hungry." The taller man grinned at Ethan.

"Are you a Pokémon Breeder, son?" he asked him, but Ethan shook his head.

"No, not really. I used to help Professor Elm around the lab and he often had quite a bit of Totodiles there," he explained. The younger boy gasped in excitement.

"I got my Pokédex and Totodile from Professor Elm not too long ago! Does that mean you're from New Bark Town?"

"Yeah, I am." The older man put his arm around the younger boy.

"My son here is studying to become a Pokémon Breeder, you see," he said.

"I'm not very good, though. I can't even tell if my Totodile is hungry or not..." the young boy added solemnly. It was then that Lyra stood up and handed the older male the clipboard and pen. He quickly scanned through it and smiled.

" 'Lyra'," he read. "That's a very pretty name." Lyra giggled and blushed, putting one hand over her mouth and waving the other at the man.

"Aw, shucks," she said, giggling once again as Ethan grumbled and looked at the floor. The man reached out and held out his hand.

"Glad to meet you, Lyra. My name's Tohmas, and this here is my son Khoury." Lyra nodded at Khoury and shook Tohmas's hand. "Now, would you like to come in and begin?" The group moved into the room that Tohmas had entered from, with Ethan staying a few steps back but coming in all the while. This room was square shaped much like the last room, but a bit bigger. There wasn't much furniture in there, other than two chairs on one side of the room over a large dark blue rug and a round white platform on the other side. Khoury walked to one of the chairs which had a small stack of papers and handed Lyra one of them.

"Those are your lines," he said. Lyra noticed that he would not look her in the eye, or anyone other than his father for that matter. Totodile trotted into the room and jumped up on its Trainer's shoulder as he sat down beside his father. Ethan stood leaning against the wall by the entrance, looking like he didn't want to be here one bit. Lyra stepped up onto the mini stage and quickly scanned the paper.

"Now Lyra, could you read the first line for us, please?" Tohmas suggested, taking out a clipboard and pen and placing them on his lap. The brunette nodded and cleared her throat.

"Welcome everybody! Great to have you here at the Johto Festival!" She had hardly taken any time to memorize the lines, but they rolled off her tongue as perfectly as she wanted them to. Tohmas and Khoury nodded simultaneously and the former jotted down a few notes.

"Okay, not bad at all!" he complimented. "Now, how about the third line? That's the paragraph where people seem have had the most trouble." Lyra quickly read through it, trying to memorize it in as little time as possible. Soon enough, she folded the paper in her hand and cleared her throat once again.

"After you've spent a little time learning about the legend of the Burned Tower where people and Pokémon bonded in ancient times, then how about having a Pokémon battle with one of these lovely Kimono Girls?" Just like before, the sentences came out just as if she was reading them off the sheet of paper itself. Tohmas and his son looked at each other and grinned with happiness.

"Thank you very much, Lyra. Khoury and I would like to discuss about this for a few moments, so could you wait over there by your friend?" Tohmas asked, and Lyra complied, jumping down and jogging up to Ethan.

"Well, how did I do?" the brunette asked. Ethan looked to the side and looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Eh, you did alright."

"_Alright?"_ she yelled, causing Ethan to jump.

"Okay, okay, you did good! Great, in fact!" Lyra smiled confidently as Ethan looked solemnly at the ground. Finally, both Tohmas and Khoury, who were whispering amongst themselves, stood up and walked up to the two.

"Lyra, your acting was spectacular. Are you sure you've never acted before?" Tohmas asked, causing the brunette to produce a small giggle.

"I was once a Mankey in the Cherrygrove City school production of _Jungle Rock_ back in Kindergarten," she replied, and all of them but Ethan – who was staring intently at Tohmas, eager to find out what his answer was – chuckled a bit.

"Well, once again, you're a spectacular actress. You said your lines beautifully and without any hesitation at all."

"Which means...?" Lyra asked excitedly. Ethan himself was also thinking the same thing.

"You got the part!"

* * *

I decided after all to put Khoury in this story after all. This will probably change your views on the story, but trust me when I say this was _**not**_ an easy decision. I thought for weeks, almost three months, on this decision. I have a couple reasons for doing this.

First, traveling around Johto with just Lyra would get dull very quickly. Yes, she would have various encounters with Ocs, NPCs and, or course, Silver, but I noticed a lot of the time when traveling through cities or routes when it was just Lyra, I often had to retype the whole scene about three or four times because it was just too boring with her talking with just Marill. You can't really do many things without getting repetitive with a human girl and a Pokémon that only says its own name. Having Khoury in the story will give Lyra a traveling buddy as well as chapters with him improving his nervous and timid character.

Another reason is the fact that it ties in with the anime. As some of you know, the anime is my religion, lol. While I'm not too fond of Ash, due to the fact that he's a Gary-Sue and somewhat annoying, I do like the fact that the anime shows characters from the game and gives them their own unique set of Pokémon. I started _Volkner's Kanto Saga: A Journey to Remember_ back before he appeared in the anime, and since his Pokémon have different moves, and I didn't make Raichu his starter like in the show, I see that story as a failure despite people telling me it was alright.

My plan is to tie in the story with the anime, changing a couple things and adding some... 'behind-the-scenes footage' I guess you would call it, then jump right back in with how they exited Johto.

Anyways, I'm trying to stay up-to-date with my goal of updating every two weeks, and I'm hoping that it'll turn out good. I made it on the deadline this time around. Next couple of weeks? We'll see, lol. Now, to thank the reviewers:

Thank you:

**JapanDreamer09**

**Curse of the Black Rose**

Okay, that's it- *is shoved from computer desk*

Move Alex; you don't get to hog _all_ the Author's Notes! Hey guys, Lyra here! I just want to thank you all for reading this story all about little 'ole me. ;) Anyways, me and my friends are gunna go to a few places to promote the Johto region, even other regions! Isn't that exciting? If you have any suggestions on a place all around the world where you want us to visit, or someone you'd like for us to meet, feel free to insert it into a review, and Alex will write a chapter revolving around that location!

*gets up, rubbing head as Lyra moves* Thanks, Lyra. I also want to add that if you've added any OC to this story and you want them to appear in that chapter, I'll be more than happy to add them. If you want a list of locations where Lyra and Khoury will be heading to, please PM me and I'll be more than happy to tell you. :D

Okay, now, where was I before I was rudely interrupted? *shoots Lyra glare of death, who waves innocently at Alex* Next chapter, Lyra and Ethan are forced to say good-bye and part ways, but will Ethan have any negativity about this? Find out next chapter! Okay guys, thanks for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	19. Losing a Friend

_So far, I seem to be sticking to the 'update every other week' plan pretty well. Of course, I've only posted two chapters as part of it, lol. Winter's over and camp is starting up for me, so we'll see how it goes. Enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Ethan, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

"You got the part!" Tohmas exclaimed joyfully. Khoury had a smile on his face as Lyra cheered loudly, jumping up and down in excitement. Ethan, however, was not so pleased. His stomach felt like he had just swallowed a Geodude whole and it was punching around trying to get out.

_Lyra got the part? Then... what does that mean for... _us_?_ he thought, looking down at the ground. Quickly, he cleared his throat to regain his posture. "Lyra, do you even know what you got the part for?" She nodded her head fast, still jumping up and down with joy.

"Of course, silly! I'm going to be narrating a video that promotes the Johto region."

"What I mean is, how much information about this 'Johto region promotional video' do you know about?" As he finished his sentence, Lyra stopped jumping and thought for a moment.

"I guess you're right..." she muttered in agreement and turned towards Tohmas. "I would like to know more about what you're doing before I accept, if you don't mind." Tohmas shook his head.

"Of course not. Let's sit down, first, though," he replied, and gestured to the main lobby where the group went and sat down on the metal fold-out chairs. Khoury came in a little bit after with four cans of Lemonade from a vending machine that was in the same room. Both Lyra and Ethan rested their backpacks at their feet and the sweet drink fizzed and hissed as they opened their cans.

"Toto..." Khoury's Totodile whispered suddenly, its red eyes looking at Ethan happily. Ethan smiled slightly and took out another handful of Pokémon food, gently placing it on the floor in front of Totodile, who began to slowly eat the pellets.

"Believe it or not, I used to be a Pokémon Trainer back then," Khoury's father finally began. "I used to travel from city to city, much like you two are right now. I was so mesmerized at how different every single city I visited was, even cities that were right next to each other. And then when I would visit a different region, those cities were _so_ much different than the ones from the previous region I visited. The tall buildings, the cultures, the fascinating people..." Tohmas had a look of nostalgia on his face for a moment.

"That's exactly how I feel! I love traveling to different cities and town for that reason!" Lyra piped up.

"That must explain why you're perfect for this job," Tohmas said. He cleared his throat and began with his story once again. "Finally, I visited the Johto region. Each town and city seemed to have some type of unique legend or past, and I wanted to learn more about it."

"While studying about the Johto region's Whirl Islands in Olivine City, my father met my mother, who was also a Pokémon Trainer," Khoury added, and his father nodded in agreement.

"We battled that day, and we knew right then and there that we were meant for each other," he said. Lyra smiled sweetly.

"Aw, that's so romantic!" she exclaimed, and Tohmas continued.

"We traveled around Johto together for a while, then moved onto other regions. Eventually, we got tired of traveling and settled down in Olivine City, the city where we had met. We got married there, and soon enough, we were expecting a child." Both Lyra and Ethan's eyes glanced at Khoury, who chuckled to himself, a blush creeping up his neck and planting itself right into his cheeks.

"So what happened to your wife?" Ethan asked. A saddened look made its way across both of the midnight green-haired males in front of them.

"When Khoury was three, his mother died of cancer..." he muttered, then sighed. Lyra glared at Ethan for bringing it up, who sent back an apologetic look.

"Oh, I'm very sorry," he apologized.

"It's no big deal," Khoury's father replied back, grinning once again. "It was because of her death that I was inspired to do something amazing. You see, most Trainers don't know the many legends behind the Johto region. Instead, they'd rather go to more unique regions like Hoenn or Sinnoh. So I got the idea to get together an organization to promote the Johto region and _its_ uniqueness."

"The Johto Festival!" Lyra exclaimed as everything came together. Tohmas and Khoury chuckled at the brunette's outburst.

"We haven't officially started yet, but everything's starting in about a week," the smaller male stated, fixing his black-rimmed glasses. Ethan was silent, deep in thought. Finally, he spoke up.

"Since this is a festival promoting the Johto region, that means you'll be visiting places outside of Johto, right?" Lyra gasped and jumped up from her seat.

"You mean I get to visit other regions?"

"We'll need parental consent, of course, but if you want to, you're more than welcome to come along with us as part of the staff," Khoury's father replied. Lyra cheered loudly and grabbed her backpack.

"Ethan, let's go to the Pokémon Center! I have to call my mom and tell her I have an _acting_ career!" Ethan sighed, but stood up and put his backpack on. Khoury looked down at the ground for a moment, and Lyra stared at him with a worried look on his face. Her solemn face then turned into a happy smile. "Khoury, if you want, you're welcome to come along with us." Immediately, his face brightened up.

"R-really? You don't mind?"

"Nah, why would we? Right, Ethan?" Lyra turned to face the boy, but he was already by the doorway.

"Huh? Oh, sure, whatever," he said distantly. Khoury stood up and faced his father.

"Would it be alright if I went?" he asked him. The man laughed and patted his son on the back.

"Go ahead, son. I still need to close up here, and I'll give you a call on your PokéGear, okay?" Khoury nodded and the group walked up to the elevator.

o 0 o

Khoury seemed to know his way around Goldenrod City fairly well. "We've been here for about a week now preparing and holding auditions, and since we're staying at the Pokémon Center, my father figured we'd need to know our way around." They had just exited the Department Store and was walking along the roads to get to the Pokémon Center.

"So, you're a Pokémon Breeder, huh?" Lyra asked. She noticed that ever since they had found out Lyra had the part, Ethan had become fairly quiet and somewhat rude to Khoury. The midnight green-haired boy shrugged.

"I'm trying to be, but like I said earlier, I can't even tell when my Totodile is hungry," he replied, and the Totodile on his shoulder growled slightly. "What do you two do?"

"Well, Professor Elm sent us on a mission, but I've been challenging Gyms along the way, though I've only got one badge to prove it," Lyra answered, pulling out her badge case and showing him the inside. The Hive Badge reflected in the afternoon sun beautifully. The then jabbed her thumb in the air, pointing it at Ethan. "He doesn't really do anything. He's committed to the mission." When he didn't react, she blinked at him and poked him in the arm. "Are you okay, Ethan? You're awfully quiet. I haven't seen you this quiet in... actually, I don't think I've _ever_ seen you this quiet." Ethan stopped in his tracks, his navy blue eyes still not meeting Lyra's.

"I think you shouldn't go through with this, Lyra..." he muttered. The sentence caught Lyra off guard and she raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"What?"

"We have a mission to accomplish that Professor Elm trusted to us; are you just going to walk away from that?" Lyra shrugged.

"Our mission is to just follow Silver around, right? It doesn't take _two_ people to do that. I was going to ask the Professor first to see what he thought of the matter anyway," she replied.

"And what about your Gym battles? You won't have time to train your Pokémon if you'll be traveling around the whole world! And the Silver Conference isn't going to wait for you, you know?"

"I know that. The Silver Conference isn't for a while anyways. But if worse comes to worse, then I'll give up Gym battles." Ethan's eyes flashed with anger and his mouth dropped open.

"You'd be willing to give up Pokémon Battles for _this?_" he exclaimed. People were now walking by and staring at the group, but the two childhood friends didn't seem to notice. Khoury, however, looked down awkwardly at his feet as his Totodile watched the argument between the two in front of it, unimpressed. Lyra grumbled with anger.

"_This_ happens to be my dream! I told you earlier that it's every little girl's dream to become an actress someday. I found that opportunity today! Remember when Dani gave up being a Pokémon Trainer for Pokémon Contests? Where is she now? Oh yeah, she's _Top Coordinator_, traveling over the world to shoot magazine covers and competing in Pokémon Contests. You didn't seem to be upset when _she_ made the transition, so why me?" Ethan was taken aback by this, and he stepped backwards a bit.

"Maybe we should just all calm down a bit..." Khoury spoke up nervously. Ethan's glare suddenly shot to Khoury.

"_You're_ the one who got this idea into Lyra's head; don't tell me to calm down!" the navy-blue haired boy warned, anger flashing through his eyes once again. Khoury jumped back a bit, but Lyra stepped in between the two with her arms outspread by her in the shape of a 'T'.

"Don't get mad at Khoury! He didn't do anything; this was all _my_ idea," she said. Ethan looked between the two, then suddenly shot off, running down the street towards the entrance of the town. "Ethan!" Lyra shouted, running off after him.

"W-wait for me!" Khoury yelled after her, and followed suit. Lyra pursued Ethan as he ran back and forth between the people in the busy city. A couple times, she tripped over herself or others, but she didn't care. She needed to know what was wrong with Ethan.

_There's something definitely bothering him, and I'm going to find out what it is, _Lyra thought as she stood up after tripping over a Soda Pop can tossed carelessly on the ground. The two followed Ethan to the edge of Goldenrod, where Ethan and Lyra had walked up just almost four hours before. When the group reached a large grassy field, Ethan suddenly turned around and stared, panting heavily to catch his breath. When Lyra and Khoury caught up, he reached out his hand and pointed his index finger at Khoury.

"You! We're battling, right now; two-on-two!" he demanded. Lyra gasped and looked at Khoury, who looked nervously between her and her friend. Ethan pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. The ball burst open in a flash of light blue light and a small, light blue elephant-like Pokémon with two red pads on the end of its ears and on the middle of its nose appeared in front of them.

"Phanpy, phan!" the Pokémon cried, releasing a confident burst of air from its long nose.

"Oh, wow! Look at that Phanpy!" Khoury exclaimed excitedly, pulling out his red Pokédex and opening it up. **"Phanpy, the Long Nose Pokémon. Phanpy uses its powerful snout to express affection. Not realizing its strength will send you flying."** Lyra giggled nervously.

"Is this really a good time to take out your Pokédex?" she asked him as she glanced over his shoulder. "Wait, Phanpy's a _Ground-type_ Pokémon? You know that Khoury has a Totodile, a Water-type Pokémon, right? Water beats Ground." Ethan smirked with confidence.

"I know my Phanpy will beat his Totodile in no time," he said. Totodile stood up on its Trainer's shoulder and grumbled.

"Toto, totodile!" it shouted at the navy blue haired boy, putting a fist in the air and waving it back and forth. As Totodile began to jump, its Trainer caught it.

"Totodile, we shouldn't battle. There's no reason for it," he explained as the light blue Pokémon struggled to get out of his grip to tear Ethan to shreds. Across the field, Ethan released a snob-like scoff.

"So you're a Pokémon Breeder, and you can't tell whether your Pokémon is hungry, and your Pokémon wants to battle, but you refuse to? I think Professor Elm should have declined you from even _getting_ a Pokémon."

"THAT'S IT!" Lyra screamed, taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it onto the field. In a flash of bright light, her Chikorita came out of the ball grinning smugly. "I don't know what's gotten over you! The Ethan I know would _never_ say anything like that, especially to one of my friends!"

"We're friends...?" Khoury asked in disbelief.

"You bet we are, Khoury. And whenever someone attacks my friends, I stick up for them and help them through," she replied, her angry gaze fixated on Ethan as he stared at the brunette in shock.

"I don't want to battle you, Lyra," he simply said.

"I don't _care_ what you want, Ethan. You're turning into a bully, and I was taught to stand up to bullies," Lyra stated coldly. "Chikorita, Razor Leaf!" After a swift jump into the air, Chikorita swung its head, releasing multiple light green razor-sharp leaves on its head at Phanpy. Ethan grunted as he decided whether to fight back or not, but his time was limited.

"Defense Curl, Phanpy!" he commanded, and the light blue Pokémon immediately rolled its body up into a ball. Once it did, its body became outlined in yellow and the Razor Leaf attacks hit it and bounced off. The attack moved Phanpy backwards a bit, but didn't do much after that. "Rollout attack, Phanpy!" While its body was still rolled up, it barreled towards Chikorita with incredible speed and power.

"Be careful, Lyra! Because he used Defense Curl before using Rollout, the power of it is doubled!" Khoury warned. Lyra nodded in response.

"When it gets closer to you, use Razor Leaf again, Chikorita!" As the Long Nose Pokémon rolled towards it, Chikorita charged and jumped over the rolling Phanpy. As it did, it whipped its head around and swung its head, releasing multiple leaves from its head. The leaves hit it from behind and it lurched forward unexpectedly. Its body unrolled for a moment and a stunned look appeared on its face.

"Phanpy, Defense Curl and Rollout once again!" Ethan called. Phanpy landed next to Lyra and curled into a ball once again, its body becoming outlined in yellow for a moment as it began to once again roll back onto the battlefield.

"Chikorita, gather energy for a SolarBeam attack and fire when ready!" Lyra ordered just as the little green Pokémon landed on the ground. The Leaf Pokémon raised the leaf on its head and it started to glow gold as it gathered energy from the sunlight. Ethan sucked in a surprise breath of air.

"You chose to use SolarBeam?" Khoury asked. "That attack takes time to charge!" Lyra smirked without looking at him.

"I know. But if I'm right, then..." she trailed off, watching intently as Chikorita gathered energy into the leaf on its head as Ethan's Phanpy rolled closer and closer to it.

"You can make it Phanpy! Roll as fast as you can!" Ethan cheered. However, Chikorita's body suddenly flashed gold and it opened its mouth, firing a beam of white energy from it just as soon as the Long Nose Pokémon was within an arm's length from it. The attack blasted Phanpy and a large bright flash of light erupted from the beam, blinding everyone all around the battlefield. Finally, the light faded and Chikorita stood happily in front of a fainted and charred Phanpy, steam rising from its body at the intensity of the attack. Lyra laughed and praised Chikorita at how great she did. Ethan, however, gawked at the timing.

"H-how did that hit Phanpy?" he muttered to himself. Khoury, however was busy replaying the battle over and over again in his mind.

"The battle wasn't very long at all... How did she-" Suddenly, it all clicked for him. "You had Chikorita jump over Phanpy's Rollout attack and used Razor Leaf to push it forward, knowing that a frontal assault wouldn't hurt it while it was rolling. Then when it was pushed forward, that gave you just enough room to charge up a SolarBeam, right?"

"Not bad, Khoury," Lyra commended. "Very perceptive." In front of the two, Ethan pulled out a Poké Ball and held it out.

"Phanpy, return!" he said, a red laser shooting out of the ball and sucking it back in. "Okay Lyra, you may have beaten my Ground-type, but can you beat my Fire-type?" He reached into his pocket and took out another ball. "Cyndaquil, I choose you!" After tossing the ball into the air, it burst open and released the Fire Mouse Pokémon in a flash of white light.

"Cynda...quuuiiiiillll!" it cried, springing up the fire on its back. Ethan looked at Lyra to see if she looked afraid, but the brunette's face was unchanged. If anything, she was smiling slightly. Chikorita trotted over to stand in front of its Trainer.

"Whenever you're ready, Ethan," Lyra said. Ethan knew he should feel confident about himself. His Cyndaquil was his strongest Pokémon. Not to mention the fact that he was facing a Grass-type with his Fire-type. However, the look on his childhood friend told him she had something up her sleeve.

_I better start by charging headfirst. Chikorita seems to do better at a distance than up close,_ he thought to himself. "Cyndaquil, charge at Chikorita with a Quick Attack, then use Tackle!" Cyndaquil complied, running as fast as it could towards the Leaf Pokémon.

"Chikorita, counter with _your_ Tackle attack!" Lyra called, and Chikorita ran at Cyndaquil. It didn't take long for the two Pokémon to collide into each other, but because Cyndaquil was moving faster, Chikorita went flying through the air. Chikorita flipped in the air as it landed to catch itself.

"Use Ember attack now!" Ethan commanded, and right away Cyndaquil took in a deep breath of air. It then fired out bolts of small fireballs from its mouth.

"Chikorita, Light Screen!" Lyra retorted. The Leaf Pokémon closed its eyes for a moment, then when it opened them back up, both of them were glowing yellow. Suddenly, a bright gold crystalline box appeared around Chikorita's body. The Ember attack struck the box, hitting the walls with enough force to push Chikorita back a bit. A few sparks managed to get through the walls and sting Chikorita's body, however.

"_That's_ what you were planning to do..." Ethan mumbled to himself as the Light Screen around Chikorita faded. Lyra smirked back in reply.

"Light Screen cuts the power of Special Attacks in half," Khoury remembered. He was very interested in Lyra's battle style. To him, a person who wasn't too fond of Pokémon Battles, Lyra was a pro. She countered every one of Ethan's strategies while at the same time inflicting damage as much as she could.

"Chikorita, Tackle attack!" the brunette Trainer commanded, and Chikorita took off, running as fast as its little legs could take it.

"It can't counter while it's charging! Cyndaquil, Ember attack now!" Cyndaquil once again fired multiple bolts of fire from its mouth, but before the mini fireballs could strike Chikorita, the gold crystalline box appeared around Chikorita's body, blocking the Fire-type attacks and canceling them out, save for a few sparks that singed the leaf on its head. A surprised Ethan gasped as the box disappeared and Chikorita slammed its body into Cyndaquil's. Cyndaquil called out in pain as it bounced off the ground a couple times before rolling and coming to a complete stop.

"Light Screen's effect stays around for a while, even _if_ Chikorita's using another attack," Lyra explained. "I'm surprised you didn't know that, Ethan."

"I may not have known that, but I do know this: Light Screen only blocks _Special_ Attacks! Cyndaquil, Flame Wheel!" Quickly, the Fire Mouse Pokémon got up and jumped in the air. It then started spinning around, causing the flame on its back to spread as it did. Soon enough, the flame surrounded its whole body and spun around with it. Cyndaquil then shot towards Chikorita and slammed into it. The Leaf Pokémon sailed through the air, smoke rising from its crisp body. But even as its body bounced off the ground, it struggled to get up, still ready to fight despite the injuries it suffered.

"Now Chikorita, use Razor Leaf attack!" Lyra commanded. She was confident that her Pokémon could fight against Ethan's despite the type difference. "I believe in you, Chikorita!" The Leaf Pokémon nodded in response and swung its head, releasing multiple razor-sharp leaves from it at Cyndaquil.

"Block those leaves with Heat Wave!" Ethan shouted. Cyndaquil opened its mouth after receiving its orders and an orange ball of energy appeared inside it. It then released a wind of orange crescent-shaped fire from the ball. The two attacks collided, but as the leaves were swept up into the wind, they turned black and withered up as they were burned and eventually disintegrated.

"Run into that attack!" Lyra shouted. Khoury gasped at her order in surprise. Chikorita, however, didn't hesitate and charged head first into the fiery wind. As it did, Light Screen's effect was activated and a golden box surrounded Chikorita's body. Cyndaquil jumped back, astonished to see the Leaf Pokémon charge through its flames. "Tackle attack!"

"Retaliate with _your_ Tackle!" Ethan called. Cyndaquil nodded and charged forward. The two reached each other before the Light Screen could fade, and Cyndaquil smashed through the box like it was a large window, golden shards of fragmented glass flying everywhere. The smash was enough to give Chikorita the edge and it pushed its back legs off the ground for more power. The two starter Pokémon crashed into each other, and at the same time was pushed back from the other's attack. The two Pokémon rolled on the grassy field and lay there for a moment, both covered in bruises and damage. The fire on Cyndaquil's back had disappeared the moment it was struck by Chikorita's Tackle, and the leaf on Chikorita's head drooped low by its feet. While both Pokémon struggled to get up, unconsciousness overtook them and they both dropped.

"Chikorita!"

"Cyndaquil!" Both New Bark Town Trainers shouted their Pokémon's names at the same time and ran up to see if they were all right.

"Chikorita, you battled so hard. I'm proud of you so much!" the brunette whispered as she cradled the little green Pokémon in her arms, pulling out the Grass-type's Poké Ball, then returned it back inside. Ethan was silent, however, as he recalled his Cyndaquil back into it's ball. Slowly, Lyra walked up to her childhood friend.

"I'm sorry Lyra..." he muttered, still looking down at the ground. "I just... I didn't want you to go..." The brunette kneeled down while still standing on her feet and put her hand on her friend's shoulder and smiled.

"I _want_ to do this, Ethan. I want to venture out and visit different places. And our battle just now proves that I can take care of myself just fine." Her words were sweet and tender as if she was talking to a scared child. "But, I'll be back before you know it!" The boy in front of her looked up at her and looked her square in the eyes. Finally, after a minute or so, a smile spread across his face. With a nod, he stood up and helped his friend up as well. Ethan looked up and his gaze fixated on Khoury, who was looking at him with a mix of worry and discomfort.

"Khoury!" he called, waving his hand. The two walked up to the midnight green-haired boy and Ethan stuck out his hand. "I'm sorry for what I said. I was just angry." Khoury smiled fully, instead of his usual nervous smile, and reached his hand out as well. However, his Totodile, whom he was holding in his arms the entire battle, finally broke free of its Trainer's grip and jumped forward, biting its powerful jaws over Ethan's extended hand. The navy blue-haired boy yelled out in pain and swung his arm around as the light blue Pokémon held on as tight as it could.

"Looks like _Totodile_ doesn't accept your apology," Lyra deduced, and her and Khoury burst out in a laughing fit while Ethan struggled to get the Water-type Pokémon off him.

o 0 o

The group of three walked back into Goldenrod City, and with Khoury's help, they all managed to get back to the Pokémon Center in a short five minute walk. Right away, Lyra ran up to the video phones and called her mother and asking her to bring Professor Elm over at once to tell them the news. Ms. Soul called back five minutes later, and she could see the chestnut-haired professor standing behind her mother. And so, she gave them both details on what was going on, explaining everything while the two listened silently, nodding their heads every once in a while to show they were paying attention. "Now the only way I'll be able to go is if I get parental consent. So Mom, Professor, what do you say?" The two were silent for a moment as they thought it over.

"What I would like to know is why you asked me to come along?" Prof. Elm asked. Lyra leaned to the left and Khoury, who was standing behind her, bent down and waved at the camera.

"Hello Professor," he said. "Remember me?" The chestnut-haired Professor looked at the boy for a moment, then smiled.

"Khoury! It's been a while, hasn't it?" Lyra smiled.

"You see, Khoury and his dad are the heads of the Johto Festival. I asked Professor Elm to stop by so that you knew that Tohmas wasn't some creeper or something." She paused to bob her head up and down, then locked her hands together in front of her. "So can I go Mom? Pleeeeeeaaaaaase?" The older brunette stopped and thought for a bit.

"Getting out and seeing the world has always been one of your dreams..." she thought aloud with a sigh. "And you're away from home anyways..."

"So, what's the answer?" Lyra asked excitedly. Her mother sighed and looked at Khoury.

"You better watch this one; my daughter is going to be one tough person to travel long distances with." Suddenly, Lyra jumped up and cheered loudly. Many Trainers and Pokémon glanced at her while others stared with interest, but Lyra paid no attention to it.

"Mom, you're the best! !" As Lyra's mother laughed at her daughter's outburst, Professor Elm behind her looked at her with a smile. Ethan watched his friend, a look of content on his face. Khoury looked on nervously, but a smile was spread across his face. After the cheering calmed down, Professor Elm cleared his throat to bring their attention to him.

"Ethan, that means that you'll have to follow Silver alone. Do you think you'll be able to do this by yourself?" he asked the navy blue-haired boy.

"Trust me, I've thought about this," Ethan stated, glancing at both Lyra and Khoury. "I think I'll be fine on my own. I've made it this far without being killed." Professor Elm nodded and stepped back. It was Khoury who stepped up to the video phone next.

"Excuse me, Lyra," he muttered to the brunette, who pushed over on the seat. As he sat, he typed in a seven digit number and pressed 'SEND' on the keyboard. "This is the number of my father's PokéGear, so if you ever have any questions, Ms. Soul, you're more than welcome to call that number at any time." The older woman's brown eyes scrolled back and forth as she read the document and smiled.

"Thank you very much, Khoury. I feel better knowing my daughter will be traveling with such a polite young man," she said, while looking at Lyra with one eyebrow raised in a smirking manner. She always gave Lyra this look when she first met a boy. It basically meant it was okay if she wanted to date them. Lyra clapped her hand to her forehead and looked at the ground.

"Good-bye, Mom. Talk to you later, Professor," the brunette Trainer said quickly and disconnected the call. As if on cue, Khoury's dad walked into the Pokémon Center a couple minutes later as the three were conversing.

"So, how'd it go? Are you going to come along with us?" he asked Lyra as he approached them.

"I got the 'O.K.' from my mom, so I'm ready to go whenever you are," the brunette replied. Tohmas looked at Khoury, and he nodded, confirming that Lyra was telling the truth.

"Good to hear. We're all packed up, but I think we'll stay the night here; it's been a long day" the taller male stated. "You can all stay here for free. It's on me." Both Lyra and Ethan thanked the man politely and walked up to the front desk to drop off their Pokémon and make reservations.

o 0 o

It took Lyra ages to get to sleep that night. As she lay in the Pokémon Center rented room's mattress, she couldn't help but think about how much her Pokémon Journey was going to change. She'll travel far from the Johto region; from her home region. She'll meet so many new and amazing people and Pokémon. _Leaving all of my friends and family behind will be hard, but I'll see them again soon,_ she reassured herself as she fell asleep.

She awoke at eight o'clock, and after she emerged from the bathroom, Ethan had put on his cap, already dressed and ready to go. He seemed happier than he had been yesterday, but he still seemed slightly sad at the thought of his best friend leaving. "Are you ready?" she asked him as she wrung out her pigtailed-shaped brown hair of water.

"Do you mean losing my best friend? No, not really," he said with a cheeky grin to show he was kidding. "Aside from brushing my teeth, I'm all packed." As Lyra sat down and placed her puffy white cap on her head, she picked up her newer backpack and placed it on her bed. Ethan's backpack, a gray bag with one strap that reached across his body, slumped to the ground as its leaning post was pulled away, but was quickly picked up after the navy blue-haired boy appeared from the bathroom and picked it up. The two friends walked out of the room and headed for the lobby of the Pokémon Center.

o 0 o

"There they are!" Khoury announced as the two walked into the lobby. They smiled at him and his father who were patiently waiting. Both New Bark Town Trainers received their Pokémon from the Nurse Joy at the front desk and walked up to Khoury and his father.

"Good morning Tohmas and Khoury!" Lyra said bubbly. Khoury smiled in response.

"You as well," he replied. The group proceeded to head outside, walking out of the front automatic glass doors. The golden morning sun was brightly shining in the city sky, with a few puffs of clouds occasionally dotting the light blue scenery.

"So, where are we heading first?" Lyra asked Tohmas.

"Actually, we still have a few things to do before we start the Johto Festival," he replied. "I still need to take some pictures to put in the video that you'll be acting in front of." He pulled out a small pad of notebook paper from his back pocket and flipped through the pages. "Our first scheduled stop is Ecruteak City, but if you want to visit some other place before we start, you're more than welcome to ask." Lyra smiled brightly.

"That's great! I've actually had some place in mind. If you don't mind, do you think we could stop at Violet City?"

"Violet City, huh?" Khoury repeated, tapping his chin with his index finger. "Why there?"

"When I first started my journey, I challenged the Gym Leader to a battle and lost. After the battle, I promised to come back after I got stronger and challenge him again. I'd like to keep that promise before it's too late," Lyra explained. A look of excitement appeared on Khoury's face.

"Wow, I get to see a real live Gym battle?"

"Violet City it is," Tohmas confirmed, taking out two Poké Balls and tossing them into the air. Out from one Poké Ball, a Pidgeot burst out in a flash of light. From the other, a brown and green dinosaur like Pokémon with four large leaves that looked a lot like wings sprouting on its back, and a gathering of three yellow fruits under its chin appeared. The two Pokémon called out and stretched their wings and muscles. Mystified at the strange Pokémon, Lyra looked in awe at how large it was and pulled out her Pokédex. **"Tropius, the Fruit Pokémon. The fruit that grows around its neck is sweet and popular with children. It flies by flapping the large leaves on its body."**

"Wow, those are some impressive looking Pokémon, sir," Ethan commented, and Tohmas laughed.

"These two have been with me for quite a while," he said, climbing on his Pidgeot. Khoury climbed up on top of Tropius. "Lyra, you can ride with Khoury and Tropius. The massive Grass-type looked down and Lyra and smiled warmly. As Lyra stepped forward to climb on it, Ethan grabbed her arm.

"Lyra... wait..." he muttered, and the brunette looked at him with an eyebrow raised. "I have something I want to give you, so that... you know, you don't forget about me." Lyra giggled to herself.

"Ethan, you're my best friend. I'm never going to forget about you." A mix of embarrassment and impatience ran across his boyish face.

"I just... I just want to make sure, okay?" He reached into his backpack and pulled out two stones, one a greyish stone and the other was a reddish-brown one.

"Those are the stones that we made back when we were younger..." Lyra said, and Ethan reached out and pulled her arm forward. She took the hint and reached out, placing her palm so it faced to the sky. He smiled and placed the reddish-brown stone in her hand. On the front, written in blue paint, was the name 'ETHAN' with the 'A' written over an 'E'. "You know this is your stone, right Ethan?" He nodded and showed her the stone in his other hand.

"Now we'll carry around a piece of each other, no matter how far away we are from one another," he said with a cheeky grin. The confused look on Lyra's face was instantly swept away and replaced with a caring smile. She stepped up to Ethan and leaned forward, placing her lips on his cheek lightly for a moment. The boy instantly blushed as she stepped back and climbed on top of Tropius.

"I'm ready now, Tohmas," she said to him, and the man confirmed he heard her with a nod.

"Pidgeot, Tropius, let's Fly to Violet City!" Tohmas cried. The two Pokémon called out before spreading their wings and flapping them back and forth, first slowly, then with more speed as they started to lift off the ground. Feeling slightly frightened, Lyra held onto Khoury's waist for deal life. People all around the city stopped and looked to watch the two Flying Pokémon take off into the sky of Goldenrod City.

"Lyra!" a voice from below called. When the brunette looked down, she saw Ethan happily waving at her. "See you soon!" She grinned back and waved her hand good-bye just in time for Tropius and Pidgeot to zoom off to the east.

* * *

I have to say, I really enjoyed writing this chapter. Such a huge variety of emotions in this, lol. And it really showed some character development for both Lyra and Ethan... but mostly Ethan. XD I got this chapter done in time, but I don't know how long it'll last (I'm hoping forever, lol). I just started to go to camp again, so I won't have as much time as I usually do to write. But, I'll still write as much as possible and write as much as I can to at least _try_ to make the deadline. I think I'll thank my reviewers now. :)

Thank you:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**Nianque**

**arkee**

**JapanDreamer09**

**DK114**

That's pretty much it for this update. Next chapter, Lyra once again visits the Violet City Gym to have a rematch with the Violet City Gym Leader, Falkner. Will she win the badge this time, or will she once again lose to the Flying-type Leader? Find out next chapter. Thank you for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	20. Rematch at the Violet City Gym!

_Once again, if you'd like to suggest a place for Lyra and Khoury to visit during their travels around the Pokémon World, feel free to suggest it! Other than that, enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 19**

It took Lyra a while to get used to flying through the air on the back of a Pokémon. She had enough trouble trying to hold onto Khoury's waist while at the same time holding onto her hat to make sure it didn't fly away in the wind because of its parachute shape. Tohmas and Pidgeot were flying behind the two to make sure that Lyra didn't fall of, since the man knew this was Lyra's first time using a Flying-type Pokémon as transportation, so if she was to fall, he would be able to catch her. Tropius was mischievous and liked to pull pranks on new fliers, so occasionally, it would flap its wings hard to shoot higher in the air and Lyra would yell out slightly, causing the Fruit Pokémon to smile evilly.

After a couple hours, the group finally reached Violet City. As Tohmas's two Flying-types circled around the city, trying to find a good place to land, Lyra looked down in awe. Violet City was beautiful on the ground, but from a Flying Pokémon's point of view, where one could see every nook and cranny in the city, it was simply speechless.

"Pidgeot, Tropius! Let's land in front of the Pokémon Center!" Tohmas shouted.

"Geot!"

"Piu!" The two Pokémon called out in response and slowly descended from the sky. Some people looked at them with interest. Some Trainers even started to crowd around. Lyra wondered if they thought Tohmas was Falkner because of the Pidgeot. The crowd soon dispensed when the two landed and carried on with whatever they were doing before. Tohmas and Khoury jumped off, and the latter helped the brunette off Tropius before the older man returned his Pokémon into their Poké Balls.

"Dad, why didn't you drop us off in front of the Gym?" Khoury asked his father as he put away the Poké Balls.

"There wasn't a whole lot of landing room," he said with a nervous laugh. "Lead the way, Lyra." The brunette Trainer nodded and the group started walking to the north of the center.

"So, what type does the Violet Gym specialize in?" Khoury questioned.

"Flying-types," Lyra answered, shuttering as she remembered Falkner's Pidgeot wiping the floor with her Chikorita.

"So some good types to go up against the Gym are Electric, Rock and Ice-types, right?" The brunette glanced at Khoury with a look of surprise on her face.

"I'm impressed. You know a lot for someone who just became a Pokémon Trainer," she commented.

"Oh, thanks, I guess. I liked to study Pokémon and their types and weaknesses." Tohmas nodded his head in agreement.

"Khoury was always wanting to read about different species of Pokémon. I asked him to come along with me for the Johto Festival for that reason; so that he could see himself how different each Pokémon is." The younger boy looked down at the ground fretfully.

"Have you captured any other Pokémon other than your Totodile, Khoury?" The boy looked back up, but sadly shook his head.

"No, not yet. I haven't really seen any Pokémon that interest me all that much. Pathetic, right?"

"Not at all!" Lyra said with a smile. "You think carefully before you choose your next partner, so that's nothing to be embarrassed about!" Before Khoury could respond, Lyra stopped and looked into the sky. They were standing in front of a huge violet-colored tower with a pink spiral flowing up the building. The base of it was pink and square. "Here we are! The Violet Gym!" Khoury looked up at it in awe as his father smiled and shielded his eyes from the sun as he examined it. Once the two were finished looking at the building, the group walked inside, Lyra leading the pack. At the front desk, there was a young man with spiky black hair who wore a white robe with an even whiter belt to tie around it. He glanced his black eyes up at the group and smiled.

"Welcome to the Violet City Pokémon Gym," he greeted. "Will you be taking part of a Gym Battle today?" Lyra stepped forward and raised her hand.

"I am!" she cried. "The name's Lyra, from New Bark Town." The young man nodded and jotted down some information on a clipboard.

"We're just spectators," Tohmas added. The man nodded and walked up to a pair of elevator doors in the back. "This elevator will lead us to the roof where the Gym Battle will take place." Finally, after a while, the elevator dinged and Lyra's group walked into it. The man also followed and pressed a button that had a big 'R' on it, just like Falkner had when Lyra came to this Gym a while ago. They all were silent as the elevator sprung up. The brunette made sure not to fall this time as the elevator jerked to life. In a matter of moments, the elevator reached its destination and the doors opened, revealing the large battle arena. Like before, a large gathering of Falkner's white robed posse stood talking amongst them, and all of the eyes were upon the group as they stepped out onto the roof. The man with the black hair gestured his arm over to a bench on the other side of the white robed posse and looked at Khoury and his father.

"That bench is where the spectators may sit and watch," he informed them, then turned towards Lyra. "The Gym Leader, Falkner, will be with us in just a moment." He glanced at a man wearing the same white robe as him, but wearing a red headband on his head and the man nodded. He then took out a pair of wooden drumsticks and started tapping the taiko drum next to him in a fast beat for a moment or two. All was silent except for the wind blowing by, but suddenly, a large shadow appeared above them. Above the Gym was a young man with dark blue hair on a hang-glider, a Hoothoot perched on his shoulder. As the man came in for a landing, Lyra recognized him as Falkner and smiled brightly as he gracefully landed on his feet. A group of the white robed people rushed up to him and put away his hang-glider as he stood up and looked at his opponent. When he saw who it was, he smiled with recognition and walked up to Lyra, extending his hand.

"Lyra, it's been quite some time," he greeted as Lyra walked up to him and shook his hand.

"Hi, Falkner!" she replied.

"You're my opponent once again, huh?" he asked, smiling and moving some hair out of his face, which fell right back into place almost immediately. The brunette nodded and looked at him with determination.

"I've gotten stronger, Falkner. Let's see if it's enough to beat you and earn me another badge," she said.

"_Another_ badge, eh? You won your battle at the Azalea Gym?" he asked.

"Yes, sir. And my Hive Badge is pretty lonely, so I think it needs a shiny new Zephyr Badge to keep it company," she replied fearlessly. Falkner smirked and looked at his Hoothoot.

"We'll see about that, won't we?"

"Hoo-hoo!" it replied, and the two walked over to their respected destinations. Lyra pulled her three Poké Balls out of her backpack and placed them in her pocket. The man who had met them at the front desk stepped in the middle of the battle arena while staying off to the side.

"The official Johto League Battle between Lyra, the challenger from New Bark Town, and Falkner, the Violet Gym Leader, will now begin. At stake is the Zephyr Badge! Each will use three Pokémon. Begin the match when ready."

"You better be ready, Lyra, cause I sure am," he said, looking at his Hoothoot. "Let's just see how strong you _really_ got! Hoothoot, let's go!" The brown Owl Pokémon flapped its stubby wings right away and took off, flying until it landed on the battlefield with only one leg showing. The brunette Trainer smirked at his choice.

"Just like our last match, you choose Hoothoot first," she muttered to herself. "I'll show you just how tough I've gotten Falkner." She pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the silver button to make it larger. "Alright Chikorita, come on out!" She flung the red and white object into the air and it burst open, releasing the light green Leaf Pokémon.

"Chika!" it cried with determination. Falkner shook his head in a disappointed way.

"Chikorita again? You should know that Grass-type Pokémon don't stand a chance against my Flying-types," he stated. Lyra said nothing in response, but Khoury looked at the battlefield with confusion.

"I don't understand. Why did Lyra choose her Chikorita when she's a Grass-type? That's a pretty bad way to start a match," he thought aloud.

"I've never seen Lyra battle myself, but you said yourself that Lyra always has a plan up her sleeve, right? Let's watch and find out if she can pull this off," Tohmas suggested, crossing his arms to get comfortable.

"Begin!" the referee called, and the boy behind him tapped the taiko drum, signaling the battle had begun.

_If Falkner attacks first, he'll command Hoothoot to fly into the air so Chikorita can't reach him with her attacks,_ the brunette thought. _I can't waste any time!_ "Quick, Chikorita, Tackle attack now!" Without skipping a beat, Chikorita ran forward, ready to pounce on the brown Pokémon in front of it.

"Hoothoot, climb into the sky so it can't reach you!" Falkner commanded, causing Hoothoot to flap its stubby wings hard until it flew into the air.

"Jump into the air and switch to a Razor Leaf attack!" As Falkner's Hoothoot rose into the air, the green Pokémon jumped into the air and swung its head, releasing multiple light green leaves as sharp as knives spinning at it.

"Spin to evade, and then dive down for a full-force Tackle attack!" the Gym Leader shouted. Hoothoot cartwheeled in the air, swerving around the sharp spiraling leaves and tucked in its wings, diving down at Chikorita head first. Suddenly, Lyra smirked.

"Chikorita, PoisonPowder!" she called, and Khoury gasped at the sudden command. Chikorita raised the leaf on its head and started to wave it back and forth. As it did, sparkling purple powder started floating out of it and forming a cloud of dust in front of it.

"Hoothoot, pull up!" Falkner exclaimed with sudden surprise as Hoothoot came dangerously close to the purple mist. The Owl Pokémon brought its feet forward and opened its wings, slowing it down like a parachute, but the speed of Hoothoot's descent was too fast and it landed directly inside the poisonous powder. Immediately, the Flying-type started coughing and calling out in pain.

"Lyra's plan must have been to Poison Hoothoot since most of Chikorita's moves are Grass-type!" Khoury muttered to himself, snapping his thumbs as if figuring out the answer to a riddle. His black eyes were locked on the battle in front of him.

"Now Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!" Lyra called, prompting Chikorita to swing its head once again, releasing a handful of razor-sharp leaves at the Owl Pokémon.

"Fly into the air and avoid that attack, Hoothoot!" Falkner ordered. Inside the mist, Hoothoot flapped its wings and took off, the violet spores dissipating right away. Although it flapped in the air without a mark, it was breathing hard and its face had a purple tint to it. "Dive down to the ground and strike it from above; she can't Poison us a second time!" Once again, Hoothoot tucked in its wings and shot to the ground, its large red eyes locked onto Chikorita's fearless face. Lyra said nothing and waited for her opportunity. Finally, the moment came just as Hoothoot cringed in pain from the poisoning.

"Quick, Razor Leaf, go!" Lyra shouted, pointing at Hoothoot. For one final time, Chikorita waved its head and shot out a bundle of green leaves that shot at Hoothoot like spinning discs. However, since Hoothoot was in pain from the poisoning and falling fast, it had no way of dodging the attack and the leaves hit it right on the mark.

"Hoo!" it called out as it was struck and slammed into the stadium's ground, its round body causing it to bounce as it did.

"Hoothoot!" Falkner exclaimed worriedly.

"Hurry, Tackle attack now!" the brunette Trainer ordered. Chikorita took no time to charge as fast as it could and slammed its whole body into Hoothoot's round one, sending it flying towards its Trainer. He bent down and caught the Owl Pokémon in his hands.

"Oh, Hoothoot... are you okay?" he asked it. The Pokémon replied with a small groan and slumped in its Trainer's hands.

"Chikorita is the winner!" the referee announced as Falkner pulled a Poké Ball from his robe and put his fainted Pokémon inside it.

"You did a fine job, Hoothoot. You deserve a good rest," he said, putting the Poké Ball away.

"Wow, Lyra won despite the type advantage on Falkner's side!" Khoury said.

"She's quite the battler, I must say!" his father commented, nodding his head.

"That was quite a smart little combination you put together out there, Lyra," Falkner praised. "I'm surprised that you managed to beat Hoothoot with your Grass-type."

"You of all people should know that type advantage isn't everything," she retorted as her Chikorita stood proudly on the battlefield.

"I guess you're right," he muttered back, taking a Poké Ball out from the inside of his robe. "Then I guess I shouldn't take you lightly anymore!" He tossed the Poké Ball, which burst opened and released a dodo bird-like Pokémon with three heads, no wings, and long, skinny legs. Each head squawked angrily and fixed all six of their beady eyes on Chikorita. Lyra stepped backwards a step in shock.

"T-that thing has three heads?" she exclaimed. Off on the sidelines, Khoury gasped with excitement and took out his Pokédex to scan the Pokémon. "**Dodrio, the Triple Bird Pokémon. Its three heads represent joy, sorrow and anger."** As the Pokédex spoke with its electronic voice, Lyra stared up at the Pokémon in front of her with horror. "I can't tell which is which, because _all_ of its heads look angry."

"You may have beaten my Hoothoot, but most challengers learn to find out that three heads are much better than one," Falkner said with a smirk.

"Begin!" the referee called, and the man behind him tapped the taiko drum once again.

"Chikorita, we can't let this thing stop us from getting that badge! Use Razor Leaf attack!" Lyra commanded, prompting Chikorita to swing its head, releasing multiple leaves from it.

"Dodrio, dodge that by using Agility," Falkner retorted. The Triple Bird Pokémon immediately sprung into action, running towards Chikorita's attack as fast as it could, but then rushed to the right at the last moment.

"Use PoisonPowder to keep it away from you!" the brunette shouted, a tinge of worry in her voice as the Pokémon in front of her rushed towards her Chikorita. The Leaf Pokémon raised the leaf on its head and produced a purple powder from it that formed into a cloud of dust.

"Pull away Dodrio and go around it!" Falkner directed, the brown Flying-type following its orders perfectly.

"It's so fast... There's no way we'll have enough time to gather energy for a SolarBeam attack..." she muttered, biting her lip nervously as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face.

"Lyra!" Khoury called to her, cupping his hands around his mouth so she could hear him. "SolarBeam charges faster when the sun is bright out!" Right away, Lyra looked into the sky and saw the golden sun directly above them without a cloud in the sky to ruin it.

"Since the Gym is like a skyscraper, we should be able to charge energy fast enough, too..." she whispered, smiling to herself. "Chikorita, gather energy for a SolarBeam!" Chikorita raised the leaf on its head and it started to glow gold. After a few moments, Chikorita's body flashed gold, indicating the energy had been gathered. "He was right! Chikorita, fire!" The Leaf Pokémon opened its mouth and released a powerful golden beam of energy from its mouth straight at Dodrio. However, Falkner smirked.

"Dodrio, fly into the air to dodge that attack!" he ordered. Just as the beam was about to hit, Dodrio bent its knees and jumped straight into the air. The Pokémon was so high up, it really did seem like it was flying. Lyra would have even thought it was if it had wings. However, she gasped in surprise as Chikorita's SolarBeam missed and died down until it disappeared completely. "That's right, Dodrio! Now use your Drill Peck attack!" The Triple Bird Pokémon shot down towards Chikorita and its three beaks started spinning like drills. Lyra's Pokémon stood in horror as the Flying-type got closer and closer to it, until finally, it brought all three of its head forward and stabbed Chikorita with its beaks.

"Chikorita, no!" the brunette yelled as her Pokémon flew through the air and landed on the ground. It seemed to be knocked out at first, but Lyra could see that Chikorita still wanted to fight. "C'mon Chikorita, I know you can do it!"

"Chika, ri..." it muttered as it struggled to stand up. Eventually, it did, but the leaf on its head was droopy and it couldn't stand perfectly.

"Finish it off with a Tri Attack, Dodrio!" Obeying its Trainer, Dodrio raised the middle head upwards and lowered the left and right heads and positioned each one so that each beak was the corner of a triangle and they all opened their long tan beaks simultaneously. Suddenly, an orb of energy appeared inside each one of the beaks. Inside the left beak, a red orb formed. Inside the middle one was an indigo-colored, and the last one was green. A red triangle then formed in between the three orbs and it turned a shade of indigo.

"Quickly, Light Scree-" Lyra hurriedly shouted.

"Too late!" Falkner interrupted just as Dodrio called out and fired the triangle at Chikorita. The attack blasted Chikorita and knocked it right off its feet, sending it rolling right to its Trainer's.

"Dodrio is the winner!" the referee announced. Lyra bent down and cradled the green Grass-type Pokémon in her arms.

"I guess I got too confident, Chikorita, but you put up a great fight," she said as she recalled her Pokémon.

"I was surprised your Grass-type Pokémon was able to knock out my Hoothoot, and I have to give it credit for that, but my Dodrio has much more experience," Falkner said to her with a smirk. Lyra bit her lip once again and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"You may think your Pokémon is tough, but it doesn't stand a chance against my newest team member," she stated, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. "Mareep, it's your turn!" The Poké Ball burst open and in a flash of light, her Mareep stood, bleating and ready for battle. Falkner looked at her Pokémon, and an expression of disgust flashed across his face, but that quickly turned into a smirk.

"So, you captured an Electric-type Pokémon to battle against my Flying Pokémon?" he deduced.

"Don't flatter yourself. This Mareep _wanted_ to come along with me. And it's just coincidence that it's an Electric-type," she retorted.

"Begin!" the referee called as the taiko drum was tapped once again.

"We'll let her have the first move this round," Falkner stated, and his Dodrio nodded its heads to show it understood.

"Alright then Mareep, use ThunderShock!" Mareep bleated out a cry before its ears became surrounded in light blue static. It then fired a blast of yellow electricity from its body at Falkner's Pokémon.

"Dodrio, dodge that attack by flying into the air!" Falkner ordered, and his Pokémon squawked loudly as it bent its legs and jumped high into the air again. The blast of electricity missed it completely and blasted the ground where it stood moments before. "Now, come down and hit it with a Fury Attack!" As the Triple Bird Pokémon fell, it brought its heads backwards, then shot them forward, ready to stab Mareep with their beaks.

"Growl, let's go!" Lyra shouted, smirking and pointing at Dodrio as it fell towards the Wool Pokémon. Quickly, it sucked in a gulp of air and started to bleat loudly, sending invisible shockwaves through the air. The sudden loud yell surprised Dodrio and it flinched backwards, stopping its attack and landing on the ground in front of Mareep.

"Dodrio, don't let that yelling distract you! Use Tri Attack to strike it now!" Once again, Dodrio positioned its heads so that each beak was a corner of a triangle and it opened each of them, three orbs of energy, red, green and indigo, appeared in the center of them. A red triangle then appeared in between the orbs.

"Dodge that, quickly!" Lyra told Mareep. Finally, the triangle darkened to an indigo color and Dodrio called out as it fired the three pronged energy at the Wool Pokémon. "Jump over it and use Thunderbolt!" With a crouch, Mareep leaped high into the air, and the Tri Attack passed right under it, barely touching the fluffy yellow wool on Mareep's stomach, and yellow sparks appeared around its black and yellow ears. It then fired a powerful blast of yellow electricity from its body at Dodrio.

"Dodrio!" Falkner called in horror as the Flying-type was struck by the attack, shocking it for a few moments before the electricity disappeared and Dodrio fell to the ground in a daze, its body smoking. "Stand up, Dodrio! I know you can do it."

"Let's go, Dodrio. Let's go Dodrio," Falkner's posse chanted in an effort to get Dodrio up. Sure enough, the Triple Bird Pokémon raised its three heads and slowly stood up.

"It's still able to battle?" Lyra muttered. "Now Mareep, use Tackle!"

"Counter with Fury Attack!" the Gym Leader retorted as Mareep rushed towards his Pokémon. Using what strength it had left, Dodrio raised its heads and brought them forward, stabbing Mareep with its beaks at the same time just as it was about to slam into its target.

"Mareeeeep!" the Wool Pokémon cried out as it bounced off the ground and flew into the air.

"Recover and fire ThunderShock!" the brunette ordered. In an instant, Mareep shook off the pain from the attack and its ears once again became surrounded in light blue static as it fired a stream of yellow electricity from its body at Dodrio. It didn't have the energy to dodge and it just watched as the electricity struck it, momentarily shocking it and causing it to fall to the ground once again.

"Let's go, Dodrio. Let's go, Dodrio. Let's go, Dodrio," Falkner's posse chanted again, but this time, it did no good as the Triple Bird Pokémon fell into unconsciousness.

"Mareep is the winner!" the referee announced. Lyra cheered as Mareep walked back over to their side of the battlefield.

"Great job, Mareep! Now we just have one more to go!" the brunette called. Mareep smiled at its Trainer.

"Good job, Dodrio. You fought hard. You deserve a good rest," Falkner said, taking out a Poké Ball and returning it into the red and white orb. As he put it into his robe, he grinned at Lyra mischievously. "I have to admit, you've gotten better, Lyra. _Much_ better than before." He reached back into his robe and pulled out another Poké Ball. "But this is where your winning streak ends. Go Pidgeot!" He tossed the Poké Ball into the air, and it opened up, releasing a white flash of energy and condensing to form into Falkner's best Pokémon.

"Pigot, toh!" it called as it was released, flying in place in front of its Trainer, its long red and yellow head feathers blowing in the wind.

"This is Falkner's strongest Pokémon, Mareep. We can't go easy on it," the brunette Trainer told her Pokémon.

"Begin!" the referee called. As the taiko drum behind him was hit, Falkner immediately jumped into action.

"Pidgeot, fly into the air!" the blue-haired Gym Leader commanded, prompting Pidgeot to flap its wings hard and shoot straight up into the air. Lyra looked up at the Bird Pokémon, shading her eyes from the sun with one of her hands.

"It's really high in the air. Do you think you can reach it?" she asked her Pokémon. The Wool Pokémon turned its head and nodded it. "Alright then. Thunderbolt, let's go!" Right away, yellow sparks appeared around Mareep's ears and it fired a beam of electricity into the air; the beam heading straight for Pidgeot.

"Blow it away with Whirlwind, Pidgeot!" Falkner shouted as his Pokémon started to flap its wings as hard as it could. A strong wind then started to come out of them, which soon became a powerful gust that caused the Thunderbolt to stop and break apart. Little lightning bolts then scattered throughout the field, and both Mareep and Lyra jumped around the stage trying to avoid getting shocked. "Wing Attack, now!" In a blink of an eye, Falkner's Pokémon tucked in its wings and dove down towards Mareep. The Electric-type looked up and saw the Bird Pokémon coming straight at it, crying out in surprise.

"Look out, Mareep!" Lyra exclaimed just as Pidgeot leveled with the battlefield and shot towards Mareep with its wings opened. It then shot forward and sliced Mareep with the side of its wing as it flew by, a white trail of energy being left behind as it struck it. Lyra had to duck down as Pidgeot flew upwards and turn around to face the battlefield again. Mareep was damaged and it got up slowly. "Good, you're okay. Blast it with ThunderShock!" As light blue static appeared around Mareep's ears, it fired a small beam of yellow electricity from its body straight at Pidgeot.

"Pidgeot, dodge that with Agility!" At its Trainer's command, Pidgeot suddenly disappeared, the attack passing right through where it had been. It suddenly reappeared to the right of where it had been and dove down as if it knew what its Trainer would tell it to do. "Quick Attack!" It didn't take long for Pidgeot to reach Lyra's Pokémon, and it slammed right into Mareep's side, sending it flying across the battlefield.

"Mareep!" Lyra gasped. She noticed her Pokémon twitch to show that it was still conscious, but the attacks had wore it down.

"Your Electric Pokémon doesn't stand a chance against Pidgeot," Falkner stated to Lyra, smirking as he did. Lyra replied with one of her own.

"I don't have any idea where you got that from; Mareep isn't finished _yet_." She looked at her Pokémon who was struggling to get up. "Mareep, use Heal Bell on yourself!" Mareep looked up into the air and suddenly started bleating as the orb at the end of its tail started to glow teal. Suddenly, its whole body started to glow the same color and all of the injuries on its body started to fade away. Finally, the teal color faded and Mareep stood up, good as new. Falkner looked at the Pokémon intently, his eyes narrowed slightly. All of a sudden, he looked up at Pidgeot.

"Wing Attack, Pidgeot! Knock Mareep out now!" he commanded. Following his orders, Pidgeot shot down towards the Electric-type, its wings slightly opened to strike it.

"Dodge it quickly and use Charge!" Lyra instructed as Pidgeot leveled itself out with the battlefield and shot at Mareep. Like before, Mareep crouched and jumped over the large Flying-type. As it landed on the ground, the orb at the end of its tail started to glow yellow and yellow sparks appeared around its body as it charged up electricity. As it did, the yellow wool on its body started to puff up. At this, Falkner chuckled to himself.

"The only thing you're doing is giving Pidgeot a bigger target to hit," he muttered. "Quick Attack, Pidgeot!" As fast as lightning, Pidgeot once again dove down, its wings tucked to the side of its body to put more speed in its attack.

"Jump as high as you can when it reaches you, Mareep!" the brunette Trainer called. The puffy Wool Pokémon obliged and jumped straight up into the air.

"We don't fall for the same trick twice, do we Pidgeot?" Falkner sneered as Pidgeot suddenly stopped below Mareep. "Aerial Ace!" Pidgeot opened its wings to stop in place and it used its feet to bounce off the ground and fly straight up at its opponent. Suddenly, its body became surrounded by white streaks as it shot towards the Electric-type.

"Form your Cotton Spore into a shield, Mareep!" Lyra exclaimed, sounding extremely concerned. Mareep nodded and released a large amount of yellow cotton balls from its wool below it. The cotton gathered together and formed a yellow circle in between Mareep and Pidgeot. The latter quickly broke through the soft shield and slammed its body into Mareep's stomach. The Pokémon called out in pain as it flew through the air. "Recover and use Charge again!" Right away, Mareep flipped around and the orb at the end of its tail started to glow yellow again, producing sparks around its body and its wool getting puffier.

"You can charge up your electricity all you want. Your Mareep cannot even keep up with my Pidgeot!" Falkner said to his opponent.

"Which is exactly why I used Cotton Spore," the brunette replied. Falkner froze and his blue eyes shot up to his Pidgeot. As it flew through the air, the cotton balls that it had flown through were now sticking to its body, and it kept fidgeting to get them off. "And don't forget that those cotton balls are also charged with electricity!" As if waiting for her command, the cotton balls started releasing yellow sparks of electricity, causing Pidgeot to cry out in pain. Yellow static then surrounded Pidgeot's body as well and it cringed.

"It's Paralyzed!" Falkner exclaimed.

"I knew you wouldn't fall for the same trick three times in a row, so I laid a trap and waited for you to take the bait. Not to mention Mareep's Ability is Static, so when you directly hit him with your Pidgeot's Aerial Ace, it became Paralyzed," Lyra explained. "Mareep, finish it up with a fully-charged Thunderbolt!" Mareep landed on the ground and thick yellow sparks appeared around its whole body. The wool around its body was so massive that it almost touched the floor.

"Pidgeot, dodge that!" the Gym Leader cried out. However, Mareep bleated loudly and released a massive blast of energy straight into the air that was so powerful that when it hit Pidgeot, it caused a huge explosion. Lyra and Falkner cringed from the flash of light and a loud thump was heard on the battlefield. Finally, the light faded away and there were two figures on the battlefield. One was in front of Lyra, and seemed to be breathing heavily, while the other, in the middle of the battlefield, was lying on the ground in a daze. The figure in front of Lyra was none other than Mareep. Which meant...

"Pidgeot! Are you okay?" Falkner asked, running up to his knocked out Pokémon.

"And the challenger, Lyra from New Bark Town, is the winner!" the referee announced. With a large gasp, Lyra cheered loudly, jumping up and down with excitement. Khoury and his father sat in awe at the spectacular battle that they just witnessed.

"Lyra's an amazing battler!" Khoury noted, replaying the whole battle a couple times in his head.

"We chose a good one to come along with us, that's for sure," Tohmas added, smiling finally as Lyra ran up to her exhausted Pokémon and hugged it fiercely, receiving a sudden static shock from its now shrunken wool. On the stadium field, Falkner pulled out a Poké Ball and smiled sadly.

"You did your best Pidgeot, and that's all that matters in my book," he said to it, and recalled it.

"Thanks for your hard work, Mareep! I'm so, so proud of you!" Lyra exclaimed, hugging it tightly until it gasped out in pain, then put it into its Poké Ball. As she stood up, Falkner walked up to the girl and grinned.

"I'm greatly impressed by how much stronger you've become, Lyra; and just from collecting one badge, no less. I'm a little scared to see how your far your strength will soar once you collect all _eight_ badges." He chuckled to himself and reached into his pocket. "Nonetheless, this Zephyr Badge belongs to you." As Lyra reached out her hand, he placed a silver badge in it that looked like an upside-down 'U', but the two sides were shaped like wings.

"Wow, the Zephyr Badge! Thanks so much, Falkner!" Lyra said excitedly, smiling at the badge that reflected in the afternoon sun.

"I don't say this to a lot of the Trainers who win my badge, but good luck in the Johto League, Lyra," he said, extending his hand.

"Thank you so much, Falkner!" the brunette replied and shook the older boy's hand. The two parted ways then, and Lyra walked up to Khoury and his father, taking out her pink Badge Case and placing the badge to the right of her Hive Badge. She then grinned widely and showed the two her badges.

"Great battle, Lyra. I was on the edge of my seat," Tohmas commented. Khoury studied the two badges with a look of confusion on his face.

"You put the Hive Badge in the second slot, but why'd you put the Zephyr Badge in the third slot instead of the first one?" he asked.

"I put it there as a mental note to myself, saying that I'm not done challenging the Gyms in the Johto region _just_ yet," she replied, winking at Khoury and putting her Badge Case away in her backpack. The group walked to the elevator from which they came up from and got inside. As they traveled down, Lyra couldn't stop smiling from how proud of her Pokémon she was.

* * *

Badge number two is in Lyra's possession. And getting from the super-strong Falkner is no walk in the park, either, so great job to her. I was worried that I was going to repeat everything from the last chapter with Falkner, but it came out pretty good. The battle with Chikorita vs. Dodrio could have been longer, but I figured that since Dodrio was much stronger than Hoothoot and Chikorita was already tired out anyways. Funny thing happened while writing this chapter. To get a better grip on Falkner's personality, I watched the episode that featured him, and the 'Who's that Pokémon?' for that episode happened to be Marill. Coincidence, I think not. XD

Has anyone else been having problems with getting e-mails sent to their account from here? I get story updates just fine, but I just got updates from my forum that were added a month ago on May 11th. 0-o I've also been told by readers that they haven't been receiving updates for this story. Hopefully it passes through. I still do write and update my Journal entries page, so if you ever want to know how a chapter's doing, just take a look at my profile. Time to thank the reviews:

Thank you:

**DragonforceX**

**JapanDreamer09**

**arkee**

**ScotSniper**

**Nianque**

**DK114**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

Okay, that's it for this update. Next chapter, Lyra, Khoury and Tohmas go to Ecruteak City. While they're there, Lyra meets the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City and his mysterious friend. Who are they? Find out next chapter! Thanks for reading/reviewing, guys! See you next chapter!


	21. Battling Against Legends

_So happy that summer's finally here. Let's just hope this weather gets better as time progresses, eh? And let's also hope that camp doesn't eat up my time for writing chapters. There's an important message down below in the A/N, so be sure to read them after the chapter. :) Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 20**

"Are you sure you don't want to rest your Pokémon here for the day?" Tohmas asked Lyra. After exiting the Gym, the group headed straight for the Pokémon Center, thinking Lyra would want to rest her Pokémon there for the day.

"No, we'll be fine. I don't want you two to hold up production of the Johto Festival because of me," she replied. "I feel sorry enough having you two stop in Violet City so I could battle in the Gym."

"Dad and I feel badly for just picking you up in the middle of your journey," Khoury pointed out, causing Lyra to smirk.

"If I didn't want to come along with you two, then I wouldn't have auditioned to star in this, right?" she asked. "As far as I'm concerned, Tohmas, you're my boss, and I take my orders from you, not vice versa. So I say let's go to Ecruteak City!"

"I believe that would be an order, Lyra..." Khoury whispered to her and nervously laughed. She returned his comment with a death glare.

"Are you positive?" Tohmas questioned once more, scratching the back of his head with a confused look on his face.

"Sure, I'm positive! Look, Ecruteak City is only a half an hour away if we Fly on Pidgeot and Tropius, right? Once we get there, we'll drop off my Pokémon at the Pokémon Center and continue on with our day. I've taken enough of you two's time already." Tohmas and Khoury looked at each other for a moment, and smiled and chuckled.

"We sure picked a winner, didn't we?" the older man asked. When his son nodded his head, Lyra blushed as Tohmas pulled out two Poké Balls and tossed them into the air. "Pidgeot, Tropius, come on out!" In two flashes of white light, one from each Poké Ball, the two Flying-types came out and called out. As Tohmas climbed on Pidgeot, Khoury and Lyra scrambled up Tropius. The green Pokémon smiled at the two warmly. "Okay guys, Fly us to Ecruteak City!"

o 0 o

Because the wind current was working with them that day, it only took the group about twenty-five minutes to reach their destination. Lyra smiled and gasped with excitement at the city below her. All of the buildings were made of wood and concrete, and they all looked so old, but undamaged. It was as if they had been transported back in time; back to the times before technology. The streets were made of dirt instead of concrete, and if there were any roads that didn't have dirt, they had cobblestone over them instead. "Let's circle around the city for a moment, guys!" she heard Tohmas shouted to his Pokémon. The Pokémon called out in response and Pidgeot slowed down so that Tropius could catch up. "See those two towers there?" Lyra's eyes followed Tohmas's finger and saw two towers to the north of the city. One was in the back more, but the one for towards the town was burned and destroyed.

"Wow, that one's so tall!" Lyra noted, referring to the one that was in one piece.

"The taller one is called the Bell Tower, and the burned one is, well, the Burned Tower," Khoury told her. Tohmas pulled a digital camera out of his back pocket and held it out. After a quick flash, he looked at the image and smiled.

"Perfect," he muttered to himself. "If we land, I'll explain the towers' history to you." Hearing him, Pidgeot and Tropius slowly began to land in the city below. Many people glanced as they did, but none crowded around like in Violet City. Finally, they landed and Tohmas recalled his Tropius into its Poké Ball, but left his Pidgeot out. "Let's take a walk towards the towers. I need a better picture of the Burned Tower." As they walked towards the tall towers, which looked high over the city, Pidgeot flew overhead, but stayed close to them.

"As Khoury mentioned to you earlier, those two towers are called the Burned Tower and the Bell Tower. Three hundred years ago, the Burned Tower was actually called the Bell Tower, and the current Bell Tower didn't exist. You see, the Bell Tower was famous because it was a perching ground for the Legendary Pokémon Ho-oh," Tohmas explained.

"Ho-oh? Really?" Lyra exclaimed. She remember learning about Ho-oh back from her Pokémon Trainer's School days, and she was always fascinated with it.

"However, it would only appear to a select few people; the people who ran the tower. One day, however, a group of evil doers looking to make Ho-oh's power their own invaded the Bell Tower and attempted to capture Ho-oh. During the catastrophe, as Ho-oh flew away, a lightning bolt came down from the sky and struck the tower and caused it to become engulfed in flames. Three Pokémon got trapped in the flames and perished because of the evil doers." Lyra gasped and put her hands up to her mouth in sadness.

"That's awful! I just can't _stand_ greedy people!" she angrily cried. Tohmas nodded in agreement.

"Soon enough, a sudden downpour appeared and put out the flames, but the tower was still a lost cause. When Ho-oh came back to see that the tower, it noticed the three Pokémon's bodies and infused power into them. From the lightning bolt that struck the tower, Ho-oh infused one of the Pokémon with the power of lighting. With the fire that burned its precious tower down to the ground, Ho-oh infused another one with the power of the raging flames. And finally, with the rain that put out the fire, Ho-oh infused the final Pokémon with the power of a powerful hurricane storm. Thus, the Legendary Beasts, Raikou, Entei and Suicune were born."

"Wow, so three Legendary Pokémon were born from in that tower?" Khoury asked excitedly.

"Yes, Khoury, but unfortunately, because of the wickedness of the people who disturbed it, Ho-oh became annoyed with humans and hasn't been seen or heard from for a while. Some people claim to see it flying around, but it's just watching us now. It and its other three pairs of eyes: Suicune, Raikou and Entei."

"It's watching us?" Lyra repeated. As they got closer to the tower, she stared at it in amazement. _Three Legendary Pokémon were born in this exact same spot!_

"It's waiting. Some people say that Ho-oh will return only when the hearts of humans and Pokémon can live together in cooperation and harmony," Tohmas explained.

"Now what about the _newer_ Bell Tower?" Khoury asked.

"After the fire, the townsfolk went inside to see if they could salvage anything from the tower. Everything was burned to a crisp, except for 32 metal bells and four crystal bells, all of which were miraculously untouched by the flames. And so, the people of the town held a meeting, and decided that since the Bell Tower was such a holy place, they would build a replica of it and keep the burned tower there as a reminder to those with evil in their hearts. The bells were placed in their original position in hopes of Ho-oh's return, but never did it come back. Some are still hopeful that Ho-oh will see that not everyone is evil and come back. That day has yet to arrive, however." Finally, the group reached the Burned Tower, and the two children were silent as they looked upon one of the oldest standing buildings in Johto. "I'm going to fly up and take a picture, then head to the Pokémon Center to rent us some rooms."

"Oh, wait!" Lyra called as Pidgeot flew down and landed next to its Trainer. She reached into her pocket and pulled out two Poké Balls. "Can you drop off my Chikorita and Mareep at the Pokémon Center? I'd like to explore the Burned Tower for a little bit if you don't mind." Tohmas smiled and pocketed the young girl's Pokémon.

"Of course, but don't you need these two if you run into trouble?" he asked.

"No way, I've still got Marill," Lyra said, pulling out her last remaining Poké Ball and tossing it into the air. "Alright Marill, come on out!" The Poké Ball opened and a form of light appeared next to Lyra.

"Marill!" the Pokémon cried, and jumped onto its Trainer's arm. Since it didn't have the large side bag to rest its feet on, it just hung from there.

"Your Marill sure likes you, Lyra," Khoury noted, smiling at the dark blue Pokémon.

"Of course. I've had Marill ever since she was an Azurill," she replied, looking down at her Pokémon.

"Well, I'll get going. I'll see you two later," he said, jumping on Pidgeot. He paused for a moment and looked at the tower. "Just be careful. Khoury, give Lyra my PokéGear number just in case you two get into trouble." Khoury nodded and held his hand out to Lyra, in which the brunette reached into her backpack and retrieved her pink PokéGear. Retrieving his own, he punched numbers into both his and Lyra's. After a quick flash of light was seen above, the two heard Pidgeot cry out and fly away to the south.

"There, our numbers are in each other's PokéGear," he commented, handing Lyra back her PokéGear. She smirked at the boy in front of her.

"Who said you could have my number? Don't you want to buy me dinner first?" Khoury's face turned as red as a Tamato Berry and she laughed. "Relax, Khour, I'm just kidding. Now let's go into that tower!"

"Khour...?" he muttered to himself, but then realized what she said. "Wait, you want to go _inside_ the tower? What if an old pillar falls on us? What if we fall through the floor and starve to death? What if-"

"C'mon, Khoury! We'll just take a quick peek and we'll be out before you know it," she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him in. The inside of the tower was pretty much what you'd expect from a tower that burned down over three hundred years ago. The floor was wood and charred a bit, and a lot of the pillars and support beams had fallen or disintegrated over the years. "Wow, look at this place. Can you believe that three Legendary Pokémon were born _right here_!"

"Y-yeah, I believe it. Now can we leave now?" Khoury stuttered, almost shaking from fear. She rolled her eyes and continued to walk further into the room. Suddenly, Marill's ears started twitching and it froze up, almost shaking in fear as well.

"Oh, don't tell me you're scared, too?" Lyra asked Marill, just as Khoury let out a yell. When she turned, his face was pale white and he was pointed straight at her. She then turned her head to look at what the boy was staring at. As she did, she came face to face with a dark figure with large red eyes and a large teeth-showing grin on its face. She called out too and jumped backwards. "What is that? Is it a ghost?"

"No, it's a G-Gengar!" Khoury stuttered, taking out his Pokédex and scanning it. **"Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. Gengar hides in the shadows. If a Gengar is nearby, it is said to feel ten degrees cooler."** Quickly, Lyra jumped back and swallowed her fear.

"Pokemon or ghost, you're going down!" the brunette Trainer shouted. "Marill, Water Gun!" However, the Pokémon was shaking in fear still, its ears twitching every once in a while. Its eyes, however, weren't fixated on Gengar. It seemed to be looking around, or somewhere else. "Marill!" When the Pokémon ignored her once again, she groaned. "Okay then Chikorita, it's up to you!" She reached into her pocket, but didn't feel anything but pocket lint. "That's right, I gave Tohmas my other Pokémon to bring to the Pokémon Center." She turned her head and walked backwards, pushing Khoury forward. "Okay Khoury, it's up to you!" she encouraged, and he fought against her strength but failed. He looked forward to see the Ghost-type Pokémon looking on in amusement, laughing at his fear. Finally, he stood up straight.

"F-fine!" he said, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Totodile, I need your help now!" The Poké Ball flew through the air and opened up, releasing the light blue Big Jaw Pokémon from inside it.

"Toto!" it called, and looked at the Pokémon in front of it looming high over it. However, it crossed its arms and tried to look intimidating back.

"Totodile, use W-Water Gun now!" Khoury commanded, and the Pokémon sucked in a deep breath of air. It then released a stream of water from its mouth at the Gengar. The Pokémon giggled into its hands and suddenly melted into the floor. The water struck the charred floor of the tower harmlessly. "H-hey, did it run away?"

"Remember what the Pokédex said? Gengar can hide in the shadows!" Lyra reminded, and sure enough, Gengar appeared once again, floating into the air. It snapped its fingers and a large group of Gastly and another purple Pokémon with two floating hands appeared all around it. "Gastly?"

"And Haunter!" Khoury added, taking out his Pokédex to scan Gastly. Lyra took out hers and scanned Haunter. **"Gastly, the Gas Pokémon. Although it can sneak in anywhere with its gaseous body, it can also be blown away by the wind."**

**"Haunter, the Gas Pokémon. After evolving from Gastly, this Haunter can learn the Dream Eater and Psychic attacks."** "Haunter evolves from Gastly?" Lyra asked.

"Yeah, and Gengar evolves from Haunter. This Gengar must be the leader of the group!" Khoury deduced.

"But even if your Totodile defeats Gengar, how can it beat at least fifteen Gastly and Haunter?" Suddenly, footsteps were heard, and two men walked into the room from the upper floor. The one further ahead looked down at them with purple eyes. He wore a black sweater and tan pants. His messy blonde hair was held in place by a purple headband wrapped around his head, and he wore a purple scarf with a red flame-like design at the ends of it. The other man wore a purple suit with four lighter lilac diamonds on the front of it underneath a small white cape held together with a large red bow tie underneath his neck. His brown hair was gelled back so that only one strand of it was loose and dangled in front of his blue eyes.

"Please explain what you are doing here in this tower," the man with the purple headband demanded. As he did, the Gastly and Haunter all floated toward and around him.

"Are these your Pokémon?" Lyra retorted, pointing to the Ghost Pokémon.

"They're my friends," he replied. "Now, please explain why you are in this tower."

"We came in here to take a look around because it's such a historical place," the brunette answered.

"I see. Well, you'll have to leave immediately. These Ghost-type Pokémon live here, and they think that you're trespassing onto their territory." The man in the purple suit looked on silently, but he seemed to be in a rush to get this over with.

"Sorry, we'll leave right now!" Khoury responded, then turned around to walk out, but was stopped when Lyra grabbed his green sweater.

"Wait a minute!" she cried. "Who do you think you are, telling us to leave when you're trespassing as well." The man smiled at her bravery and walked down the steps to greet her.

"My name's Morty. I'm the Ecruteak City Gym Leader," he said, shaking her hand. "The man behind me is Eusine. He's a friend of mine."

"I'm Lyra, and this is my friend Khoury," she greeted, shaking the man's hand. Khoury smiled nervously at the taller man, his eyes fixated on the Gengar floating behind him. On her arm, Lyra felt Marill shutter once again as its ears twitched a couple times. "Marill, it's fine. These Ghost Pokémon are friends of Morty. There's no need to be scared of them!" The brunette looked up at Gengar and smiled nervously. "Sorry about this. Marill doesn't usually get this scared around other Pokémon." Morty looked at Marill curiously, his brows coming together in thought. Suddenly, Eusine walked forward and bent down to come face to face with the Pokémon, looking it straight in the eye. He then watched its ears twitch repeatedly for a moment or two.

"Morty, Marill are known to have super-sensitive hearing. Do you think it's hearing..." he asked, trailing his sentence off and looking at his friend.

"That's what I was thinking as well," the Gym Leader replied. "Lyra, how long has your Marill been acting this way?" Lyra turned her head to look at Khoury.

"I think as soon as we walked in," she guessed. Khoury confirmed her guess with a nod of his head. "She was so scared that she wouldn't even battle Gengar. Why? What's going on?" Eusine and Morty locked eyes with each other.

"Should we tell them?" Morty whispered.

"Her Marill may help us to find wherever they're hiding," Eusine replied. "The Gastly and Haunter aren't helping much, and your Gengar is just fooling around, so I say we fill them in." When he finished, he stepped back to watch the situation. Morty sent his purple-suited friend a look, but turned around and looked at the two.

"The reason Eusine and I are in here now," Morty began, "is because we've been hearing other Trainers mention that they saw the Legendary Beasts return here. We came in here to see if the rumors are true."

"T-the Legendary Beasts?" Lyra asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You mean Raikou, Suicune and Entei?" Khoury confirmed, to which Morty replied with a nod.

"The way your Marill is acting confirms that the Legendary Beasts are in this building as we speak," Eusine added.

"It doesn't actually confirm it, Eusine, but it's a good clue," Morty reminded. "Your Marill doesn't usually act like this, right?"

"Not at all. In fact, before we came in here, it was happy to be out of its Poké Ball," she replied, looking at Marill in concern. Totodile grunted in annoyance, knowing it wasn't going to battle anymore, and jumped up onto its Trainer's shoulder.

"Have you searched the whole tower?" Khoury questioned.

"We've been trying to get around as quietly as possible as to not scare them off if they were here, so we haven't looked throughout the whole tower yet," Eusine responded. Suddenly, a Gastly appeared out of nowhere and floated next to Morty, who turned towards it as it started talking to him.

"Gas Gast Gast-ly. Gastly Gas Gasly Gast," it said to him, and as it did, his eyes widened. His blonde head whipped around and he looked at Eusine.

"The Ghost Pokémon found them. They're in the basement!" he exclaimed. Eusine's mouth dropped open, and in a blink of an eye, he whipped around and started running towards the back of the tower. "Eusine! Wait!" He groaned with annoyance and turned his head to look at the two kids behind him. "If you'd like to come along, I suggest you stay by me. Its easy to get lost in here and I know my way around this place well." The blonde-haired man then jogged along, following the path that Eusine took.

"C'mon, let's follow them!" Lyra suggested bravely, then charged deeper into the building. Khoury looked nervous, but decided against staying by himself and ran along after them. "Morty, did you understand what that Gastly said to you? How can you do that?" He looked at her and smiled.

"Practice," he said. "Like I said, I've known these Ghost Pokémon for a long time now." The three slowed down as they approached a set of stairs, and the blonde put his index finger up to his lips, telling the two not to make a sound. Meanwhile, Marill's body started to shake even harder.

_They're definitely down there, all right. When it comes to hearing, Marill's never wrong,_ Lyra thought as they creeped down the old charred stairs. There was very little light down here, but from being inside the Burned Tower for a while now, it didn't take them long for their eyes to adjust to the darkness. Soon enough, they could see Eusine's white cape, and saw that he was hiding behind a large burned pillar. He turned his head to look at them, and then pointed out. With a small leap, the group jumped behind the pillar and looked over the top of it. Sure enough, Lyra could see three large dog-like figures walking around the area. Each step they took made a small padded sound. The size of them were incredible, almost frightening. And the fangs on two of them were long and sharp enough to pierce through Lyra's body with ease. She shuttered at the thought and looked at the creature closest to them, who's back was facing them. This creature was yellow with black markings on it. It had two long fangs that hung out of its mouth. On its back was a purple cape-like object on its back that reminded Lyra of thunderclouds. Its jagged tail was skinny and light blue, and at the end was a star-like formation.

The Pokémon off to the side of the building was light blue with white diamond markings on it. On its head, there was a hexagonal-shaped appendage sticking out of its forehead. It, unlike the others, didn't have fangs jutting out of its white muzzle. It had a back appendage like the yellow Pokémon, and it was purple as well, but it seemed to flow out of its body by an unseen wind. It had two white streamer-like tails that waved about on both sides of its body.

The last Pokémon, the one in the back, was covered in dark brown fur. It had two rock-like appendages sticking out of the sides of its back, and in between them was a white cloud-like cape that also flowed in an unseen wind. Around each of its powerful legs were black bands. As Lyra looked closely at it, she noticed that those weren't fangs that stuck out of its face, it was actually a mask on its face that looked like it. By its eyes were surrounded by a red face, and a yellow crown-like crest on its forehead. They all seemed to be walking back and forth all around the room, their eyes looking at the ground. From what Lyra could tell, the Legendary Beasts had not spotted them... yet.

"Wow, I can't believe how close we are to them!" Lyra whispered excitedly.

"Do you see the Pokémon in the back? The one with the dark brown fur? I once came face to face with that Pokémon. That's Entei. It looked at me, then ran off in a blink of an eye," he said to her. He then pointed to the light blue Pokémon. "That light blue Pokémon is Suicune. Eusine's been after it for years. He's only gotten this close to it a couple times."

"Which means the other one is Raikou..." Khoury thought aloud. "Does anybody else think we should get out of here while they haven't noticed us yet? Those paws could crush me into a pancake..." Lyra ignored him and pulled out her Pokédex, adjusting the volume on it and scanned the closest Pokémon, which was Raikou. **"Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon. It is said to have descended to Earth on a bolt of lightning."** Following suit, Khoury adjusted the volume on his and scanned Suicune, who had just walked by the pillar without even noticing them. **"Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon. It travels the world and purifies water wherever it goes, sailing on the North Wind."** Before either of them could scan Entei, however, Eusine grumbled to himself and suddenly jumped up.

"Eusine, no!" Morty whispered, but it was too late.

"That's it! This is my chance and I'm not going to let any of you escape from me again!" he shouted. All three pairs of red eyes shot up from the ground and looked directly at Eusine. The man paid no attention to the glares, however, and pulled out a Poké Ball, throwing it as hard as he could. "Go, Alakazam!" From the Poké Ball, a tan and brown Pokémon holding two spoons, one in each hand, and a long mustache on its face came out and floated in the air.

"Alakazam..." it muttered, looking at the three Legendary Pokémon.

"Eusine! Why did you do that?" Morty yelled, standing up from behind the pillar.

"Wow, an Alakazam! I've never seen one in real life before!" Khoury commented happily, causing Lyra to face palm herself as he took out his Pokédex. **"Alakazam, the Psi Pokémon, and the evolved form of Kadabra. With the brain like a super-computer, it possesses many different supernatural powers."**

"Khoury, was this really the time for that?" Lyra lectured, sighing once again and Khoury ignored her and marveled over Eusine's Alakazam.

"The chance is perfect, Morty! We're blocking the only exit! There's no way they can escape!" Eusine replied, smirking. Hearing this, the three Pokémon roared loudly, shaking the unstable wooden building as they did. Morty grumbled and glared at his friend. "With or without you, I'm battling and capturing Suicune! Alakazam, use Confusion!" Through the slight darkness, Alakazam's eyes started to glow red and they released black waves of energy from them towards Suicune. Suicune jumped forward and released a blue force field from its body. As the waves hit the force field, they bounced off and disappeared. Feeling cornered and attacked, the other two Pokémon roared loudly and jumped forward as well. Entei seemed to take a deep breath and released a stream of pink fire from its mouth straight at the pillar in front of them. As the flames hit, they instantly disintegrated the pillar, turning it to nothing more than ash and soot on the already charred ground. Lyra and Khoury called out in surprise and Morty jumped back.

"Gengar!" he called, and the Shadow Pokémon appeared next to him from nothing. "What type of Pokémon do you two have?"

"Right now, we both just have Marill and Totodile!" Lyra replied nervously. He nodded.

"Then I'll leave Entei to you two. Gengar, use Night Shade on Raikou!" Gengar floated forward and its eyes began to glow red. It then fired two black beams outlined in red energy from its eyes at Raikou, which jumped over the attack and fired a powerful blast of yellow electricity from its body at Morty's Pokémon. The Pokémon flipped through the air around the electricity and fired another beam of darkness at it. The Thunder Pokémon effortlessly side jumped out of the way of the attack and its long sharp fangs started to glow yellow and it rushed forward towards Gengar. "Dodge that, Gengar!" As Raikou leaped forward, ready to sink its teeth into the Shadow Pokémon, Gengar laughed evilly before it disappeared into the floor. Raikou landed on the ground on all four of its feet and looked around for its opponent. "Lick attack now!" Suddenly, the top half of Gengar's head popped out from the side of the stairways and it extended its tongue forward in an incredible length and swung it along Raikou's legs, causing it to fall forward since it wasn't expecting the Pokémon's tongue assault. "Attack it once more with Night Shade!"

"L-Lyra!" Khoury exclaimed, pointing in horror as Entei came bounding towards the two. The brunette's attention was grabbed from Morty's battle and she decided to focus on her own.

"Alright Marill, it's up to you!" she said to her Pokémon, who gulped but jumped out in front of its Trainer.

"Totodile, go help Marill, too!" the midnight green-haired boy said. Totodile didn't think about it for a second before it jumped off next to the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.

"Double Water Gun!" the two Trainers shouted, causing each of their Pokémon to release a stream of water from their mouths, hitting the Volcano Pokémon as it flew through the air. It was pushed back by the attack, but shook its body and opened its mouth, forming a pink orb of flames in front of it. It then fired it at Totodile and Marill, who jumped out of the way of the attack. The Fire Blast collided with the ground, but disappeared quickly.

"Marill, use Aqua Jet!"

"Totodile, Aqua Tail!" Marill bounced off the ground and its body became surrounded by water. It then shot like a rocket towards Entei. Totodile jumped towards Entei and turned around. Its tail then became surrounded in a spiraling stream of water, ready to strike it with the water. Entei roared loudly and jumped into the air, causing the two Water-type Pokémon to collide attacks and fall to the ground.

"It's fast!" Lyra noted. Suddenly, Entei landed on the ground behind the two Water-types and lifted its two paws. It then slammed each one down on a Pokémon, and the two Pokémon cried out in pain.

"And powerful! That Stomp had nothing but sheer power behind it. "It didn't get the title of a 'Legendary Pokémon' for nothing!" Khoury said. They both glanced in the background as Suicune dashed from one side of the room to the other, being closely pursued by Alakazam and Eusine.

"Alakazam, Psybeam!" he commanded. Alakazam crossed its spoons in front of its body and fired a rainbow-colored beam from them at Suicune, who effortlessly dodged the attack. It then turned around and formed a light blue ball of energy inside its mouth. It then fired a huge barrage of light blue bubbles from the orb. Alakazam stopped in mid air and crossed its arms in front of its body, blocking the BubbleBeam attack as much as it could. Finally, the last bubble, bigger than the others, shot out and as it hit the Psi Pokémon, it exploded and sent it reeling back.

"Cuuune!" it cried out, but Alakazam wasn't finished yet. It jumped back up and shot at it as fast as it could.

"Psybeam again!" As Alakazam charged forward, it crossed its spoons and fired another blast of energy from them at Suicune. Suicune whipped around and formed a rainbow-colored orb in front of its mouth much like Alakazam's Psybeam and fired a powerful beam of a rainbow blast from the orb. The two multicolored attacks collided and caused an explosion. "Let's stop it from running around with Disable!" Eusine ordered. Quickly, the Psi Pokémon tossed both of its spoons up into the air and caught them as they landed. It then crossed the spoons in front of it and both of them started to glow red. A red stream of static then shot out of them and headed straight for Suicune, but then a blue force field appearing around its body once again and blocked the attack. "That Mirror Coat trick is really getting old, Suicune!"

As if respecting his request, Suicune took a deep breath and released a powerful swirling wind from its mouth at Alakazam. The Pokémon landed on the ground so it wouldn't be blown away by the Gust attack, but the force was too powerful and it sent it reeling backwards. Suicune, however, had to jump as Raikou rushed by it and a black ball of energy almost struck the two together. Raikou roared angrily as Gengar followed it, but kept its distance for when Raikou blasted a Thunder attack at it.

"Gengar, use your Shadow Ball again!" Morty yelled, and Gengar raised both of its hands in the air above it. Then, its hands became surrounded by transparent light blue orbs that sparked black energy from them. Gengar then put its hands together in front of it and the two orbs combined into a black ball of energy with energy of the same color sparkling around it. It then fired the ball at Raikou. However, Raikou turned its head and opened its mouth. As it did, a yellow orb of energy formed in front of it. It then fired a yellow beam of electricity from the orb at the Shadow Ball. The two attacks collided and exploded from the force of the collision.

Gengar flinched from the explosion, and as it shook its head and studied the smoke, Raikou burst through the dust and ash, its body surrounded by yellow sparks and it tackled Gengar, much to the Shadow Pokémon's surprise. When it was struck, Gengar's body became flooded by yellow electricity and it groaned in pain from the aftereffects of Spark. Raikou roared loudly and its long teeth started to glow yellow with electricity once again. It was still on top of Gengar as the two fell, and it brought its head forward to sink its fangs into Morty's Pokémon. "Gengar, get away! Quickly!" Once again, Gengar smirked at its opponent before disappearing completely. Raikou landed on the ground on all fours and looked around, its teeth still glowing yellow. "Night Shade!" the blonde Gym Leader commanded. Suddenly, a pair of black beams outlined in red energy shot from thin air at the Electric-type Pokémon. The attack blasted it from the side and catching it by surprise.

"Kou!" it roared and flipped around, firing a blast of electricity towards the area that the Night Shade was shot from. As it fired the Thunder attack, another Night Shade appeared and fired above it, blasting the purple cloud-like cape on its back and knocking it down to the ground. It quickly recovered and fired two beams of electricity from the two dots on its forehead into the air. Once again, another Night Shade fired from thin air in a spot in front of Raikou, but the Pokémon was expecting it this time. It roared and fired a Thunder attack at the spot in front of it. Inside the yellow electricity, Gengar reappeared and was slammed against a support beam, but the electricity kept going, and Khoury gasped in surprise when he turned his head to see the attack coming straight at their Pokémon.

"Lyraaaaa!" Khoury exclaimed, pointing at the attack. The brunette also jumped in surprise, knowing the attack would damage both Water-types extensively.

"Jump!" both Trainers shouted at the same time. Both blue Pokémon looked and saw the attack coming, and jumped, also dodging a Flamethrower attack from Entei.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" Khoury commanded.

"Follow suit, Marill!" Both Pokémon fired a stream of water from their mouth straight at Entei and the attacks struck it dead on, since Raikou's Thunder attack caught it off guard. In anger, the Volcano Pokémon roared and formed another orb of pink fire in front of its mouth, firing it into the air straight at Totodile. The Pokémon was hit by the attack and cried out in pain as it fell to the ground, but Marill took over Totodile's place and shot at it. "Aqua Jet, Marill!" Its body then became surrounded by water and it rocketed towards Entei. Despite the Pokémon's massive size, it flipped over the attack and fired a stream of pink flames from its mouth at the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.

"Rill!" Marill cried out and swerved to avoid the scalding hot flames. Meanwhile, Totodile got up and shook its head.

"Dile!" it said, looking at its Trainer as if saying 'I'm ready now!'. Khoury nodded to show he understood.

"Totodile, Aqua Tail!" he ordered. Totodile ran forward and jumped into the air, catching Entei's attention. As Entei turned its head, Totodile's tail became surrounded by a spinning spiral of water and it turned its body around to hit Entei with its tail. The cloud on Entei's back suddenly began to glow white and it dove under Totodile's Aqua Tail and jumped around. It then twisted its body and slapped Totodile with its tail, sending it shooting back right into Marill. Again, the two Pokémon collided and fell to the floor. This time, however, Marill's tail wrapped around the two and they struggled to move away from each other. Entei landed on the ground, opened its mouth and stepped forward, an orange ball of energy forming in front of its mouth. Khoury gasped and took a step back. "That's Hyper Beam! We don't stand a chance!" Finally, the energy was gathered and Entei fired a powerful beam of orange energy straight at the two. When the attack struck, a huge explosion rocked the whole tower, bringing Eusine's and Morty's attention to the large explosion to see what had caused it.

"Was that a Hyper Beam?" Eusine asked himself.

"Hey, that was from Entei..." Morty muttered, then gasped. "Lyra, Khoury! Are you two alright!" Suicune and Raikou turned and looked at each other, then nodded. They took advantage of the opportunity that Entei had given them and ran towards their Fire-type companion.

"Suicune's escaping!" the man in the purple suit exclaimed, bringing Morty's attention back to his own battle and noticing that Raikou was gone. "Alakazam, stop them Disable!"

"Gengar, Confuse Ray!" Morty assisted, and the two Pokémon floated as fast as they could after the two Legendary Pokémon. Raikou and Suicune bounded to Entei, who nodded at the two.

Eusine's Alakazam finally reached the three Legendary Beasts and tossed its spoons into the air. However, the three dog-like Pokémon rushed to the middle of the room and each of them formed a triangle but faced outward. The hexagonal horn on Suicune's forehead started to glow light blue as each started their attack. Then, it let out a fierce roar, releasing transparent shockwaves from its mouth. Raikou's body then became outlined in red and it also roared loudly, releasing large circles from its mouth that expanded outward. Entei crouched down slightly and started to growl angrily as black waves of energy started to come off its body. Lyra and Khoury called out in pain and covered their ears with their palms. Morty stopped in his tracks and stared in confusion at the three Pokémon, and Eusine gaped at the intensity of the roaring. Suddenly, Alakazam, Gengar, Marill and Totodile started to glow red and all shot into the place where their Trainers held their Poké Balls. Before anyone could figure out what happened, Entei fired a Fire Blast into the side of the wall, letting sunlight flood into the room and the three Legendary Pokémon darted out, leaving the four Pokémon Trainers stunned at their combination. Lyra fell to her knees and let out an exhausted sigh. Underneath, her white socks that covered her knees started to turn black from the soot, but she didn't care. The battle was probably the most scary and difficult one she had ever fought in her life.

"W-what h-happened?" Eusine asked quietly, as if he didn't believe it had happened.

"Each of them used Roar to make our Pokémon go back into their Poké Balls," Khoury explained, and sighed loudly. "All that battling for nothing..." Eusine looked down at the ground and said nothing, but Morty looked lost in thought.

"It wasn't _all_ for nothing..." the blonde Gym Leader said. "We discovered the Legendary Beasts had returned to the Burned Tower after all these years." He smiled to himself as a thought crossed his mind. "We also discovered that Legendary Pokémon are not to be messed with." Lyra and Khoury chuckled half-heatedly, but Eusine grumbled to himself and walked towards the stairs from which they came from, kicking a pile of rubble with his dirty once-white dress shoes and walked up. Lyra stood up and opened her mouth to say something to him, but Morty caught her eye and shook his head. "This isn't the first time Eusine's run into Suicune, but it's the closest he's gotten to catching it. He needs to cool off for a while."

"Okay," she complied, and glanced at Khoury, who was looking at her through his glasses. Suddenly, she began to giggle to herself, receiving a confused look from her friend.

"What? Is there something on my face?" he asked.

"Yeah, and the rest of your body, too. You're filthy!" she said in between giggles. He looked down at his outfit and laughed as well.

"I wouldn't be talking if I were you. _You're_ just as dirty!" he retorted. Morty smiled at the two, and looked down, noticing he was covered head to toe in soot as well.

"I think we could _all_ use a shower," he stated, and with that the three of them walked up the stairs and out of the building.

o 0 o

The group of three strolled out of the Burned Tower and Lyra had to shut her eyes for a moment as her pupils adjusted to the light. None of them had said a word since they walked up the creaky wooden stairs, and Lyra guessed that they were all going over the battle with the Legendary Beasts in their heads. Finally, Khoury's thoughtful voice broke the silence. "Did anyone else notice anything before we started battling Entei, Suicune and Raikou?" he asked, his dirty hands on his equally dirty chin in thought.

"What do you mean?" Lyra questioned. Morty looked at Khoury, but said nothing, though his purple eyes seemed to say he understood what the midnight green-haired boy was talking about.

"Well, when we first entered the basement of the building, I was really surprised when they didn't detect us. I mean, canine Pokémon are said to have ultra sensitive hearing and sense of smell, but none of them looked up when we entered," he explained.

"Yeah, they didn't notice us until Eusine stood up and sent out his Alakazam..." Lyra remembered.

"Exactly. And the way that they were looking at the ground..."

"It was like they were looking for something!" Morty said suddenly. Khoury looked at the Gym Leader and nodded. "That was the exact same thought that I had when we were down there. I'm glad someone else thought it, too."

"But what were they looking for, I wonder?" the brunette muttered to herself.

"Or better yet, why wait three hundred years to choose _now_ to look for them," Khoury added. They were all silent as they pondered the thought, but then they heard footsteps in front of them. They looked up and Khoury's father was approaching the building, a look of surprise on his face. "Oh, hey Dad."

"Hi Tohmas!" Lyra exclaimed happily.

"Hey Son, Lyra," he greeted, and looked over them. "What happened to you three? You're all covered in soot!"

"Oh, you won't believe this, Tohmas! We-"

"Lyra and Khoury went in to explore the Burned Tower and fell into a hole," Morty butted in. "They got trapped in the basement and couldn't get out. Luckily, I was here and overheard them calling for help. Unfortunately, they were in pretty deep, so me and my Ghost Pokémon had to rummage through the rubble to reach them." Morty looked at the two through the corners of his eyes, and slowly, they nodded their heads as if confirming his story. Tohmas looked at the three, then started laughing.

"You're lucky this young man was here, you two. You have to learn to be more careful in old, damaged places," he replied. "And you're?"

"I'm Morty, the Ecruteak City Gym Leader," the blonde replied, smiling and shaking the older man's hand.

"Well Morty, I can't thank you enough for helping my son and his friend," Tohmas replied, but Morty stuck his hand up in protest.

"Believe me, if I could, I'd do it all over again," he said, causing Lyra and Khoury to giggle amongst themselves and earning a look of wonder on Tohmas's face.

"Well, our rooms are all paid for, so I think we head back to the Pokémon Center for a shower, what do you say?" the older man suggested.

"Sure! Can we say goodbye to Morty before we go?" Lyra questioned. Khoury's father nodded in reply and the brunette and Khoury moved so their backs were facing Tohmas. "Why'd you hide the fact that we battled Entei, Suicune and Raikou?" Morty looked off into the sunset for a moment, thinking over his answer.

"Lyra, Khoury, what you two witnessed today; what you two _did_ today, you must only speak of it when the time is right," he answered. After the two glanced at each other in confusion, Morty explained. "If people found out that the Legendary Beasts were here once again, they – tourists and Trainers alike – will flock to this section of town in order to try and see, or even _capture_ the Legendary Pokémon. The Burned Tower is home to many Ghost-type Pokémon, and you two saw how they react when their home is invaded. They have enough trouble keeping away the _regular_ visitors as it is." Khoury and Lyra looked at each other, a look of guilt on each of their soot-covered faces. "Can you promise me that you'll keep this encounter a secret for now? When the time comes, you may tell anyone you'd like, but _only_ when the time's right."

"But how will we know when the time's right?" Lyra questioned.

"You'll know, may it either be emotionally, or physically," Morty replied. "Now, do you promise?" Lyra nodded.

"I promise." Khoury followed suit.

"I promise, too." The blonde smiled at the two and placed his hands on their shoulders.

"Thank you both."

* * *

So far, this is definitely my favorite chapter in the story! It came out excellent! I tried something new with the battle scene, so if it's a little confusing, please tell me! I tried to make it as smooth as possible. Morty is also one of, if not my number one my favorite Johto Gym Leaders. I never really understood how Gold and Silver, or even the anime, didn't give him a Misdreavus even though that's a Ghost-type Pokémon from Johto. Idk.

So, next week, on June 14th is Treasured Resonance's birthday! I know that the story itself says that it was created on March 3rd, but June 14th is when I officially started updating Treasured Resonance. So on the 14th, I will update Treasured Resonance with a special Bonus Chapter revolving around Silver! And a regularly scheduled update will go according to the schedule still. So updates three weeks in a row! A birthday present from TR and I to you for reading this story! Thank you so much! I'll thank all you lovely reviewers now! :)

Thank you:

**Nianque**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**ScotSniper**

**JapanDreamer09**

Okay, that's it. Next chapter, as said above, we take a break from the main story line and see how Silver's doing. While training his Pokémon in the Ilex Forest, Silver comes across a strange creature that seemingly teleports him back to Cherrygrove City. Will Silver have to travel all the way back to Azalea Town, or does this creature have a reason for teleporting him? Find out next chapter! Thank you so much for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter!


	22. Bonus Chapter 2: The Silver Bell

_Happy birthday Treasured Resonance! This chapter is dedicated to the dedicated readers for this story! I want to thank you all for sticking by and reading this story! No words could ever come close to telling you all how I feel when I get a review to this story, or when I hear how great it's written. You guys are so awesome! Thank you all! Enjoy your birthday present, Treasured Resonance!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Silver or Jimmy and all OCs belong to their rightful owners as well.

* * *

**Bonus Chapter 2**

"Nidoking, Poison Sting!" A large purple Pokémon came out of a Poké Ball in a flash of white light and opened its mouth, releasing a barrage of purple needles from its mouth at one of the various trees that were all around the forest. Each needle was powerful and left dents in the bark of the tree. Behind Nidoking, its Trainer scoffed and ran his fingers through his long red hair. "Do it again, but this time, make the tree fall." As ordered, the Poison Pin Pokémon opened its mouth and released a barrage of needles. However, this time when they hit the tree, they didn't just dent the bark; each needle passed right through the tree, leaving a multitude of holes on it. The tree began to groan as if it was in pain and slowly it began to fall, landing on the ground of the Ilex Forest with a large crash. The loud boom caused many Flying Pokémon such as Hoothoot and Noctowl to awaken from their slumber and flutter off.

"Not bad, but not _great_ either." Silver muttered to himself, looking at his surroundings. He was in the Ilex Forest, the large maze-like forest to the west of Azalea Town, but it was a perfect training ground to train his Pokémon. _No_ _annoying Trainers to bother me here..._ Silver thought when he entered the forest. He pushed his way through the trees and plant-life until he reached a clearing deep within the forest. The clearing was pretty large, and the only thing there, other than trees and grass, was a wooden house of some kind. Silver chose not to inspect it, though. The only thing he wanted to do at the moment was train.

"Horn Attack, Nidoking!" Silver commanded, pointing at another tree next to the destroyed one. Nidoking let out a large roar before charging forward with its head lowered. It then lunged forward and stabbed the tree with the long purple horn. "Keep your horn in there and try to make it spin." Nidoking grunted and groaned, but stepped backwards and looked at its Trainer apologetically. Silver rolled his eyes and looked off to his right. "If you learned Horn Drill, there wouldn't be a Pokémon that could stop you." He thought for a moment and sighed. "You're still my strongest Pokémon, aside from Croconaw." He started to remember his Gym Battle with the Azalea Town Gym Leader. He had pretty much wiped the floor with him... or her; Silver couldn't tell, and frankly, didn't care. His Scyther didn't stand a chance against Croconaw's Ice Fang attack, and after two hits it was knocked out and the badge was in his pocket.

"What I can't get over, Nidoking... is how you lost to _that girl's Chikorita_!" he shouted at the Pokémon. "That SolarBeam was powerful, but you should have been able to stand it. You've been Poison-type longer than you have Ground-type, right?" Nidoking was silent as it was being scolded, looking down at the forest ground. "The next time you fight that Chikorita, I want it to be putty in your hands, do you understand me?" He grumbled to himself and found his eyes wandering to the wooden box that stood against the edge of the clearing.

Reaching into his pocket, Silver pulled out Nidoking's Poké Ball and pointed it at the Poison Pin Pokémon. "We'll continue your training later. I need to train the other three now." A red laser shot out of the ball's button and sucked his Pokémon inside. The redhead rummaged through his pockets to feel three other shrunken Poké Balls inside. "Zubat didn't last one round against her, so I'll train him first." He pulled out the Bat Pokémon's Poké Ball and pressed the button to make it larger. As he was about to throw it into the air, however, a bright flash of light appeared in front of the wooden box. The light was so bright that it caused Silver to flinch and put his arms over his eyes. _Is this a Flash attack? Am I under attack?_ he thought in alarm, trying to open his eyes against the bright light, but failed.

Finally, the glow faded and Silver's red eyes fluttered open, immediately looking around to see what caused the bright flash of light. What he saw was not what he expected at _all_, however. Instead of a Trainer, there was a small green creature that Silver had never seen before fluttering through the air in the exact spot where the bright flash of light had erupted. Its head was long and pointed at the end, and clear wings coming out of its back caused it to flutter in the air, and it looked at him with big, bright blue eyes with black marking around them. As it flew back and forth, the two antennae on its head swayed in the opposite direction. _What is that thing?_ Silver thought, suddenly wishing that he had a Pokédex right now. It was very rare for Silver to not recognize a Pokémon... if this thing even _was_ a Pokémon. He stood still, waiting to see if the creature was going to attack, but it never did. It looked at him with a smile on its face, sometimes moving around in the air, but even as it did, its bright blue eyes never left Silver's.

He looked down and saw that his Zubat's Poké Ball was still in his hand, and he raised it. "What are you?" he demanded. "Tell me, or I'll attack. Are you a Pokémon?" The creature happily smiled and sped towards Silver with a giggle.

"Bii, biii!" it cried, flying around his head. Its cry annoyed Silver and he tried swatting at it with his hands. It thought it was a game, however, and giggled as it poked Silver and flew backwards when he grunted in anger and annoyance.

"Stop that!" he ordered. "I don't know what you are, but you're a Pokémon, so I'll defeat you with mine! Go-" Suddenly, Celebi flew close to Silver and its eyes started to glow light blue. A bright flash of the bright green light from before erupted from its body and enclosed itself around Silver.

All of a sudden, he began to feel dizzy, and it felt like he was on a roller coaster and on top of a spinning top at the same time. As he fought down the urge to vomit, he put his free hand over his head and kneeled down to the ground. Behind his eyelids, he could see the green light fading and he could suddenly smell a mix of the ocean and cherry blossoms. He lowered his hand and opened his eyes, but it still did no good. His vision was still spinning and everything wasn't very clear yet, despite the fact that the glow had faded. Standing up as best as he could, he stumbled over to a spot uninhabited by people and hurled his breakfast out onto the sand below him. After another round of vomiting into the sand... _Wait, sand?_ Silver groaned weakly and stood up, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt. No longer was Silver in the Ilex Forest. He was on a beach somewhere. He looked out into the ocean and watched as his vomit trailed down into the salt waters.

The nausea had begun to die down, and he took this opportunity to look around. _This place... it's familiar,_ he thought to himself. The redhead looked around, remembering the Pokémon that brought him here. It was nowhere to be found, though. He looked at the Poké Ball he dropped when he vomited and picked it up and pocketed it. Silver decided that he would explore his new location, and discover why it was so familiar. It didn't take him long to realize why it looked so familiar, though. As soon as he stepped over the beach and onto the city, he stopped, stunned. "Now I know why this city's so familiar... This is Cherrygrove City!" He was flabbergasted and unable to speak. _What was that Pokémon? It must be the reason behind this..._ He grumbled to himself and decided to walk to the Pokémon Center in the city. He started to think of all the possible explanations of how he got here, halfway across the Johto region in a matter of seconds.

"That Pokémon must have used Teleport on me..." he whispered. "It didn't seem like a Psychic-type though. From the looks of its body, I thought that it was a Grass and Flying Pokémon, but obviously I was wrong. But why did it Teleport me to Cherrygrove City?" He was silent as he ran the scenario through his head again, and as he did, he gasped as a realization came to him. _I have to travel all the way back!_ He yelled in annoyance, causing a few people to stare at him with strange looks on their faces, but he didn't care. "It's going to take almost a week to get back to my original position..."

Finally, Silver arrived at the Pokémon Center and walked through the doors which he had already walked through once before, back when he first started his journey. As usual, the same Nurse Joy was at the front desk, filing paperwork and humming to herself merrily. The redhead ignored her and sat down in the lobby. After a little while had passed, he sighed. "There's no way around it. I'll have to travel back on foot. I'll just have to look out for that Pokémon when I go back through the Ilex Forest."

Just then, a boy with eggplant colored hair underneath his yellow and black baseball cap that was worn backwards walked into the lobby. A large portion of hair stuck out from underneath the front of the cap, but otherwise, his hair was short. He wore a red hooded sweatshirt with a white front pocket and hood, and he wore yellow and black short. Silver glanced at him for a moment, but looked back out the window uninterested. The boy looked at Silver and approached him.

"Hi," the boy said to him. Silver glanced at him from the corner of his eyes and tried to ignore him, despite the fact that the boy was standing in front of his chair. When Silver didn't respond, he sat down in the seat next to him, blocking Silver's view of the window. He looked at Silver with friendly eyes that were the same color as his hair. "I'm Jimmy. I'm a brand new Pokémon Trainer from New Bark Town." Silver turned his body so his back was against the chair.

"Fascinating," he replied sarcastically and crossed his arms over his chest. "New Bark Town spits out Trainers left and right despite being so small, doesn't it? And it seems all of them give me problems..."

"Are you a Pokémon Trainer, too? I was hoping that we could trade PokéGear numbers, or maybe you could give me some tips?" Jimmy asked, ignoring or not even hearing Silver's last comment.

"Yes, I'm a Trainer, but I don't have a PokéGear," Silver replied bluntly. Jimmy turned his body so he was in the same position as Silver and put his feet up on the table in front of them while cupping his hands behind his head.

"Oh, that's okay. I'd still like some tips, though. I just started my journey yesterday, and I've been training non-stop," he explained. Silver rubbed his temples with his fingers in annoyance and turned to Jimmy.

"Look, kid; I'm in a bad mood, so why don't you go find someone else to talk to?" The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise, then looked angrily at the redhead.

"Are all Trainers as moody as you are?" he grumbled. Suddenly, he stood up and took out a Poké Ball. "Alright then, how about we battle?" Silver turned his head and looked at the kid pointing a Poké Ball at his face. Although he had never met this boy in his life, there was something about him that made him seem... familiar.

"You're just going to continue pestering me until I say yes, anyways, right?" Silver asked, sighing and then standing up. "Fine, we'll battle. A weakling like you shouldn't give me any problems."

"Weakling?" Jimmy exclaimed. "We'll see about that!" So both Trainers walked out of the Pokémon Center and continued onto a grassy field that was nearby the Center. "Okay, we'll have a one-on-one battle; an all-or-nothing match!"

"Fine by me," Silver replied blankly, taking out a Poké Ball.

"I have a request, though," Jimmy said, smirking. "I'm pretty confident in my Pokémon. How about we each use our strongest Pokémon?" Silver paused at his remark and smirked, shaking his head from side to side.

"That's a bold remark there, kid, and I'm going to pretend like you _didn't_ just say that."

"Why not? Are you scared of _losing_?" the boy replied, smirking at him.

"No. If I bring out my strongest Pokémon, your Pokémon won't stand a chance. It'll be over so fast, it'll be humiliating for both you _and_ I," the redhead explained.

"I don't need your pity. You're going to lose no matter which Pokémon you bring out, anyways, so why does it matter?" Jimmy replied. "Let me at least show you who I'm up against! Go Cyndaquil!" Jimmy threw the Poké Ball into the air and it opened up, releasing the Fire Mouse Pokémon onto the battlefield.

"Cynda, quiiiilll!" it shouted, springing up the flames on its back. Silver's eyes widened as a flash of recognition dashed across his mind.

_Now I know why he looks so familiar! He looks like that boy with the Cyndaquil... the one who thought he was tough,_ he thought, thinking about his memory of Totodile sweeping the floor with his Cyndaquil.

"See how tough my Cyndaquil is compared to others? Now you _know_ you don't stand a chance, right?" Jimmy taunted, snapping Silver out of his memories. Silver grumbled to himself and replaced his Poké Ball with a different one.

"Have it your way kid, but don't come crying to me when your little rodent is history!" Silver shouted, throwing the Poké Ball in his hand. Jimmy watched with interest as the Poké Ball flew through the air and burst open. His look of interest then slowly began to turn into a look of fear as the light condensed and formed into Silver's Nidoking. The Pokémon roared loudly and stomped the ground with one of its feet, shaking the whole grassy area.

"N-no way!" Jimmy stuttered, pulling out a rectangle-shaped Pokédex. Silver noticed the Pokédex and his eyebrows came together in confusion. It was red, and it had a large button on the front which separated the top and bottom sections. As it opened, the top section opened upwards and the bottom side opened to the right. **"Nidoking, the Drill Pokémon. Nidoking swings its large tail about to create distance, then charges in with the full force of its body behind it."**

_What's with that Pokédex? If he's a new Trainer, shouldn't he get a Pokédex more like what the girl in the clown suit has?_ Silver wondered in thought. _That model is so obsolete._

"Alright Cyndaquil, our opponent may be big, but we can beat him! Ember now!" Jimmy shouted, once again knocking Silver out of his thoughts. Cyndaquil opened its mouth and fired multiple balls of fire from its mouth straight at Nidoking. Silver smirked and crossed his arms as Nidoking raised its arm and blocked the Fire-type attack with its large forearm, only getting singed a tiny bit. "It didn't work?"

"Give up. You're facing a losing battle," Silver stated, staring right into Jimmy's nervous eyes. Suddenly, Jimmy shook his head and looked at Nidoking determinedly.

"No, we're going to beat your Nidoking. Isn't that right, Cyndaquil?"

"Cyndaquil!" the Pokémon squeaked and charged at Nidoking and jumped into the air.

"Nidoking, knock it away," Silver ordered. Just as Cyndaquil was about to collide into Nidoking's gray stomach, Nidoking turned around and slammed Cyndaquil with its massive tail. The strike knocked the Fire Mouse Pokémon's breath right out of its body and it flew through the air. Finally, it hit the ground with a thump loud enough to kill the flames on its back and it landed on the ground in front of its Trainer. Jimmy gasped and kneeled down, picking up his injured Pokémon.

"Cyndaquil..." he muttered, then looked up as Silver and Nidoking approached the two of them. Silver smirked at the boy menacingly with his hands on his hips.

"Like I said: humiliating for both of us," he repeated. Jimmy grumbled in anger and looked down at his injured Cyndaquil in his arms. Silver pulled out Nidoking's Poké Ball and recalled it inside. Just as he was about to turn around, however, he stopped. "Where did you get that Pokédex from?" Jimmy's face showed that he was shocked by the question, seeing how it came out of nowhere.

"Professor Elm gave it to me. What of it?" he asked angrily. Silver thought for a moment.

"I didn't see any of _those_ models when I went there," the redhead muttered to himself as he started walking away.

"How could you not? They were everywhere in his lab!" Jimmy shouted back, standing up while still holding his knocked out Pokémon. Silver stopped as a strange thought jumped into his head, and he turned around.

"Tell me, kid, what year is this?" Again, Jimmy seemed thrown off by the question, then glared at him.

"It's the year 2007. How do you _not_ know the year?" Silver's mouth dropped momentarily, then he realized how he must look and walked away from the boy.

_It's 2007? That's three years before my time!_ Silver thought in alarm as he walked through Cherrygrove City. _There's no way that Pokémon could have... sent me through time, is there?_ The news he received stunned him and he found his mind buzzing with possible explanations. His face hid it well, but his whole body was flooded with anger as he marched back to the place that the strange Pokémon had sent him to. Maybe if he went back there, Silver would figure out why the creature sent him to this time. As Silver marched through the town and back to the beach, his anger continued to grow until his arms were shaking violently. They didn't stop until he could feel the sand crunching underneath his shoes. A little ways further, Silver could see a splatter in the sand from where he had gotten sick.

"Come out now!" Silver shouted, looking around to see if he could see it. He didn't know if there were people on the beach, and frankly, he didn't care. "Get out here creature!" Suddenly, a bright flash of light appeared over the water in front of him and the Pokémon fluttered out, looking happily at him. He screamed in anger as the Pokémon floated to him and tossed two Poké Balls into the air, releasing his Croconaw and Nidoking onto the sandy beach.

"Croconaw!" the Water-type called.

"Nidoooooo!" Nidoking roared. Celebi stopped and looked at the two Pokémon with its head cocked to the side.

"You sent me back in time you bitch!" Silver yelled. "Croconaw, Water Gun! Nidoking, Poison Sting!" Both Croconaw and Nidoking opened their mouths. From Croconaw's, a powerful stream of water came out and sailed at the Pokémon. Nidoking fired a barrage of purple needles from its mouth in the same direction. The Pokémon's eyes suddenly started to glow light green and the attacks became outlined in a light blue energy. It then held out its arms like a 'T' and the attacks then curved and completely missed it, hitting the water and causing a small splash from each attack. "Do it again and don't let it block them!" Once again, the two Pokémon shot their attacks, but the Pokémon crouched its body together and a pink and green energy shield surrounded its body. The attacks hit the shield and disappeared when they did. The shield then faded and the strange creature closed its eyes. Suddenly, a burst of invisible energy knocked back the two powerful Pokémon.

"Get up! Croconaw, Ice Fang! Nidoking, Poison Sting once again!" the redhead ordered. The Pokémon in front of him, however, had different plans. It looked up into the air and started to call out.

"Cele, biiiii!" it cried. Suddenly, the wind started to pick up and a bunch of stray leaves started coming from all over and floating around the strange Pokémon. The leaves then began to spin faster around its body and each one started to glow light green. The time-traveling Pokémon then looked back at Silver's Pokémon and pointed its hands at them. The twister of leaves then shot at the two in a cyclone fashion. Both Pokémon grunted and cried out as they were slashed at by the leaves.

"Leaf Storm?" Silver exclaimed, raising his arms to protect his face. The intensity of the attack was fierce, and it took all of Silver's strength to stay firmly on the ground. Finally, the attack died down and both Croconaw and Nidoking fell at the Pokémon's powerful attack. Silver stared wide-eyed that such a small Pokémon could produce such an attack with such ease. Slowly, he regained his composure and growled as he returned his Pokémon into their Poké Balls. The Pokémon looked sadly at Silver and fluttered up to him. "Why did you send me into the past? Why _here_?"

"Ce, Celebi!" the Pokémon said to him.

" 'Celebi'? Is that what you're called?" he asked. The Pokémon nodded and happily flew around him. "Okay _Celebi,_ why'd you bring me back here?" Celebi looked down at the beach and flew down low, its clear wings beating back and forth repeatedly. It darted from place to place until finally, it marked a spot with an 'X' with the tip of its finger and pointed at it with force while looking at Silver. He stared at the Pokémon in confusion and reluctance, and Celebi started digging into the ground and pointed. "You want me to dig there?"

"Ce biii!" it replied happily, bobbing its head up and down. As Silver approached, the Pokémon fluttered next to him and watched him as he kneeled down and complied, using his hands to dig into the sand. It didn't take long before he got picked something in a handful of sand. He sat down and cleared the sand away to see a small silver bell with a red and white string attached to it. "Ce, Ce-bii!" it yelled, pointing at the object with much force. Anger and annoyance took over Silver once again as he stood up.

"A _Soothe Bell_? You sent me back in time for a _Soothe Bell_?" he said angrily. Celebi shook its head, but Silver growled and tossed the bell far to get it in the water. Celebi gasped in shock and flew as fast as it could. It caught the bell just as it was about to hit the water and with a sigh, it flew back and placed it in Silver's hand. "I said I didn't want this!" he shouted and raised his hand to toss it again. This time, however, Celebi's eyes started to glow light green and Silver's body became surrounded in a light blue energy. Suddenly, he froze up and couldn't move his body no matter how hard he tried. Celebi moved its head and Silver could feel his own arm moving without his consent and sticking the bell in his pocket. Finally, the glow faded and Silver slumped as if a huge pressure had just been released from his body. "Why'd you use Psychic attack on me?" Celebi pointed to his pocket and shook its head again. It took him a while to figure out what the Pokémon meant. It was saying 'Don't throw that; keep it there'. Silver sighed and rolled his red eyes. "Fine. If I keep it, will you take me home?"

"Celibi!" it cried happily, flying backwards into the air and laughing. Its body then became surrounded in a light green light that surrounded Silver as well. Like before, he felt his head started to spin, then his body and he kneeled down to try and get a sense of which way was down. In a matter of moments, Silver looked up and saw that they were back in the Ilex Forest, in the same spot where he met Celebi. The Pokémon, however, was gone. He didn't gag this time, but the nausea and dizziness was still overwhelming. After a while, he stood up and put his hand in the pocket that held the bell.

_Celebi said that it wasn't a Soothe Bell, but what else could it be?_ he thought to himself. "Either way, I'm still chucking it." As he raised his arm, he suddenly felt a strange feeling inside him; a gut feeling saying that he should keep the bell. He thought for a moment, then put his arm down and replaced the bell with a Poké Ball. "Zubat, time to train."

* * *

Happy birthday Treasured Resonance! This chapter was dedicated to all the readers of Treasured Resonance from us to you! Thank you so much for reading and sticking with this story! It means so much to me. You have no idea! Now, before you guys say anything, although the date above says that the story was published in March, it wasn't until today, June 14th, that I started updating the story. Again, thank you everyone for reading this!

So, Silver met Celebi. Lucky kid. Only a few people have only seen Celebi during their lifetime. Plus, Celebi gave him a gift. Is it actually a Soothe Bell, or is it some kind of mystical artifact that hasn't been seen in centuries? Maybe it's a little of both. ;) I think this chapter was a good way for celebrating TR's birthday, since everyone loves a good dose of Silver every once in a while. :D I'll thank all the reviewers from last chapter now!

Thanks:

**ScotSniper**

**NightmareSyndrom**

**DK114**

**arkee**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**JapanDreamer09**

Okay, that's it for this update. Don't forget, I'll update the latest chapter next week. Next chapter, we head back to the main story. Lyra, Khoury and Tohmas go to the house of the Kimono Girls and Lyra makes an unremarkable discovery. One of her newest friends is there! Who could it be? Find out next chapter! Thanks for reading/reviewing! See you next chapter! And happy birthday Treasured Resonance!

| |  
| Happy 1st Birthday, TR! |


	23. Dance of the Youngest Kimono Girls

_Wishing Treasured Resonance once more Happy Birthday! And hopefully, only one or no more to come... And now, once again, back to the main story. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owner.

* * *

**Chapter 21**

The two Pokémon Trainers were exhausted as they walked to the Pokémon Center from the Burned Tower. Even though the Pokémon Center was on the other side of the city, it still took tons of effort just for the two to lift their feet to walk. Tohmas kept eying them strangely as the two crawled back to the Pokémon Center. "Are you two sure that you're okay?" he asked them.

"Yeah, we're just fine, Dad," Khoury replied weakly, laughing nervously. Lyra looked up to reply back to Tohmas as well, but something in the forest that boarded the city caught her eye. High on a cliff above the city, a large yellow creature with black markings on its fur was looking down at them.

_What is that? Why is it looking at us?_ Lyra thought. If she hadn't been so exhausted, she probably would have said something to the two, but fatigue stopped her mouth from moving. _Wait, it's not looking at _us_, it's looking at... me!_ And it was. The yellow and black creature was staring down, and Lyra could almost see its piercing red eyes staring straight at her. _I know what that is! It's Raikou!_ She stopped in her tracks and her mouth opened slightly to tell the two when Raikou noticed Lyra staring back. Almost immediately, it turned around and suddenly disappeared from view as it shot into the woods.

"Lyra, you okay? Do you need me to carry you?" Tohmas asked her. She turned around and looked at the two. For once in her life, Lyra had been speechless from the sight she just saw.

"Lyra?" Khoury repeated worriedly. Her friend's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she shook her head, first to get the thoughts out, then again to respond to Tohmas's question.

"It's fine, Tohmas. I can walk; the Pokémon Center isn't too far now," she replied. As the three slowly walked to the building, Lyra found her thoughts always leading back to Raikou and the image of it staring down at _her_, and just _her._

o 0 o

The brunette used the last of her strength once they had finally reached the Pokémon Center to limp to her room, and jump into the shower. All of the dirt and ash that came off her body and out of her hair was unbelievable, turning the water falling down into the drain to a dark brown color, but Lyra paid no attention to it. After a quick scrub of her body, she turned it off, wrapped one of the soft cotton towels around her body and plopped into her bed, which she had all to herself for the night. As soon as her exhausted body hit the bed, she was so deep in sleep that not even a Piloswine using Earthquake would wake her up.

o 0 o

"Good morning!" Lyra greeted bubbly as she approached Tohmas and Khoury in the cafeteria area of the Pokémon Center. The two were eating a breakfast of sausages and bacon, and there was already a plate next to Khoury that had been untouched.

"Good morning," Tohmas repeated as Lyra sat down in front of the uneaten food and stuck a bacon strip in her mouth.

"You're up early," Khoury noted. She shrugged and waited for her to swallow the bacon before replying.

"I woke up earlier and I feel as good as new," she said, and stretched her arms into the air, hearing her vertebrae snap a couple times. "So what are we going to do today?" Tohmas wiped his hands on a napkin in front of him and cleared his throat.

"Well, one of the main attractions of Ecruteak City, aside from the Burned and Bell Towers, is the famous Kimono Dance Theater, where the Kimono Girls of Ecruteak City perform," he answered.

"Kimono Girls?" Lyra wondered.

"They're famous for holding dancing and old fashion tea ceremonies for the city all the time," Khoury explained. Tohmas took out a piece of paper from his back pocket and unfolded it. On it, there were two girls dressed in kimonos having a picnic in the middle of a yard next to a pond with stones all around it.

"This is a flier for a tea ceremony they're having later today," he told the two. Lyra gasped ad clapped her hands together.

"So we're actually going to their tea ceremony?" she asked excitedly.

"No, we're going to get there early before we start so we don't disturb them while they're in the middle of entertaining guests," the older man replied, causing Lyra to slump back in her seat in a disappointed way. "I'm sure they'll give us a sample of it when we get there. They're expecting us there any minute now, and the older sister, Satsuki, seemed really friendly when I talked to her on the video phone."

"They're also Pokémon Trainer, right Dad?" Khoury added. His father nodded in reply.

"That they are. They're also famous for battling with four of the seven Eevee evolutions, so many people go to see if they can catch a glimpse of the rare Pokémon they possess," Tohmas responded. Lyra lifted her head up and continued to eat.

"I've seen an Umbreon before. That's an Eeveelution, right?" When she saw the confused look on the two's faces, she giggled lightly. "The kids in my school used to call Eevee's evolutions 'Eeveelutions'. I guess it stuck on."

"Yeah, Umbreon is an... _Eeveelution,_" Khoury replied slowly, trying to new word on his tongue.

"You're telling me you've never heard that before?" the brunette asked Khoury, who replied with a shrug.

"I'm hoping we get to see at least one of their Pokémon," the midnight green-haired boy said to himself. Finally, the three finished eating, and paid the bill, as well as retrieving their Pokémon Nurse Joy, and left the Pokémon Center to head out to the Ecruteak Dance Theater.

o 0 o

"This is the place?" Lyra asked in awe as they stared up at the building. Although the house itself wasn't that big, the property was huge, and although it was closed in, Lyra could hear a babbling brook running through it in the distance. The house itself was very old and looked to be out of an old samurai movie.

"Yup, this is it," Khoury's father answered, examining it for himself. "Quite an amazing place, isn't it?"

"The backyard looks huge!" Khoury noted. Just then, the wooden door opened and a head stuck out from it.

"I thought I heard someone out here. Welcome!" she said as she walked out. The woman was wearing a long flowing indigo-colored kimono with crescent moon patterns on the sleeves, with a red and blue wrap around her stomach that tied in the back to hold the kimono in place. On her feet, she wore old traditional tabi straw sandals. Her face was beautiful and flawless, and she looked at them with warm light brown, almost red eyes. She had perfect black hair that was pinned in the back, and a green headband with a plastic Poké Ball on it separated her bangs, which was parted on the right of her head. "You must be the Johto Festival crew, am I right?"

"Yes, ma'am," Khoury's father replied with a nod, shaking the beautiful girl's hand as she approached. "I'm Tohmas, this is my son Khoury, and his friend Lyra." The Kimono Girl's eyes darted to Lyra when he spoke her name, and she smiled warmly at her before gazing at her for a moment.

"Hello and welcome to all of you," she greeted, bowing politely. "I'm Satsuki. The others are awaiting inside as well. Please, come in. We'll make you some tea." Tohmas nodded and followed the woman into the house. The inside was styled like an old traditional Japanese home, complete with sliding doors inside. "I shall prepare your tea. If you'd like, you may meet my sisters. They are in the backyard preparing for the tea ceremony."

"Would it be alright if I started to take pictures? We don't want to disturb you while you're entertaining guests," Tohmas stated, taking out his digital camera from his pocket. The beautiful woman smiled sweetly as a reply.

"That's very sweet of you, but you do what is more convenient for you," Satsuki replied, then walked into the next room. Tohmas turned to the two kids.

"Well, we should go into the back and introduce ourselves to the others," he suggested, and the group walked into the doorway that Satsuki pointed them to. As the group had observed earlier, the backyard was huge. There were flowers and gardens all around, as well as tall trees in various spots. Running through the backyard wasn't only a crystal clear running river, but a small lake as well. There was a wooden bridge that crossed to the other side of the small river. Sitting at a picnic table were three other women also dressed in kimonos. They all looked up at the group as they walked through the door. "Good morning, ladies. We're with the Johto Festival committee," Tohmas introduced. A young woman, the one who seemed like the youngest of the group who was wearing a light blue kimono with a orange-yellow wrap tied around it stood up and walked up to them.

"Ah, yes, our sister told us that we should be expecting you today," she said, walking up to Tohmas and bowing respectfully. Her black hair was also pinned up just as her sister's was, but her bangs were cut straight across her forehead. Lyra noticed that each of the Kimono Girls had a different color kimono and wrap, which was the only way to tell them apart. That and each of the Kimono Girls' hair had different bangs. Suddenly, one of the Kimono Girls, a young woman with a yellow kimono with purple designs on the sleeves, and a red wrap with a yellow line across it and green markings by the tips stood up.

"Lyra, is that you?" she asked. Surprised by hearing her name, Lyra looked up at the girl as she walked up to her and smiled. "How have you been?" Lyra raised one of her eyebrows in confusion.

"You know a Kimono Girl, Lyra?" Khoury asked in surprise.

"I don't _think_ I do..." she answered him.

"Sure you know me. We met in the Ilex Forest. It's me, Tamao!" the girl reminded. Everything all clicked together as Lyra remembered the girl who's Umbreon who swiftly defeated Leah the ninja girl.

"Oh, I remember you now! Hi Tamao!" Lyra greeted, shaking her friend's hand. She paused and looked at her closely. "Wow, what a change when you're at home, Tamao. Did you dye your hair or something?" Tamao was silent for a moment, then chuckled to herself.

"No, this is a wig, Lyra. All Kimono Girls wear black wigs; it's a tradition," she stated. Immediately, the other two Kimono Girls appeared and looked at Lyra thoroughly. "These are my sisters, Koume-" Tamao pointed at the youngest sister wearing the blue kimono, "-and Sumomo." The other Kimono Girl seemed like the oldest of the three, and she wore a green kimono with a yellow wrap that had bubble designs on it. There were red markings on the sleeves that reminded Lyra of a Lure Ball's design.

"Tamao told us all about you," Sumomo said. Koume nodded.

"She says you're a great at Pokémon Battles," she added. Lyra laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I don't know if I'm _great_ at them," she muttered.

"I had no idea that you were with the Johto Festival, Lyra," Tamao said, looking at Khoury and Tohmas.

"Actually, she just auditioned to be a part of the promotional video a couple days ago," Tohmas answered.

"Yeah, now I get the opportunity of a lifetime and get to travel around the world with them," the brunette added, nodding her head. The three sisters glanced at each other, almost nervously.

"Will you be coming back?" Koume asked, receiving an angry look from both of her other sisters and immediately quieted down.

"That's a strange question..." Khoury muttered to himself.

"Um, I guess I am. After the Johto Festival, of course," Lyra responded, hearing Khoury but not looking at him. The question struck her as odd as well.

"Well, I have a couple people that I'd like for you to meet, if that's alright," Tamao suggested, then walked into the house. Soon enough, she came back out and smiled. "Lyra, I'd like you to meet my two younger sisters." She walked outside and two girls, both looking like they were Lyra's age, followed her. The first one looked at Lyra and smiled with an even bubbly smile than Lyra's. She wore a soft orange kimono with a black wrap across her waist. On her long sleeves, there was a black flower design stitched into them. The neck line, the hem, and the hem of the sleeves had black stitching on them as well. Her black hair was tied into a half cinnamon-bun braid and it trailed down to the end of her shoulder. There were silver chopsticks placed in an 'X' shape in the bun part of her hair. Her jade-green eyes were full of life as she stared at Lyra excitedly, and the brunette noticed how short she was compared to the other sister, who looked like she was the same age as her.

This girl didn't look like she wanted to be here at all. Unlike her sisters, she wasn't wearing a kimono or wig at all. Her milk-chocolate brown hair, which had black, red and light blue highlights in it, was thick and curly, and it was tied up into a high ponytail. She wore a black tank top on, which had painted on it in blood red paint 'GO DIE IN A HOLE'. She wore dark jean shorts, and on her feet were black combat boots that almost reached up to her knees. On her right shoulder, there was a tattoo of black rosy thorn vines that reached all the way down to her elbow. Every time she took a step, the six or seven silver bracelets on each wrist jingled loudly.

"These two are Kit and Kat. They're our little sisters, and they're also Kimono Girls in training," Tamao introduced. The girl wearing the kimono waved shyly, but still looked at her like she wanted to say a million things.

"Um, hi. I'm Kat," she finally said after a moment or two, holding out her hand to Lyra. The brunette shook her hand, then Khoury walked up and shook the girl's hand as well. "And this is my sister Kit."

"Hi, Kit," Lyra greeted, sticking out her hand for the other girl to shake it. She, however, glared at her with her piercing icy blue eyes, then looked away. Lyra raised her eyebrows in surprise and pulled her hand back.

"Friendly, isn't she?" Khoury whispered nervously and sarcastically to Lyra. Kit growled and glared at Khoury, but said nothing.

"Why don't we all come out and talk for a while?" Tamao suggested. Kat nodded her head, but Kit uttered a groan in response. She walked over to the side of the house and sat down in the shade.

"I'm not socializing with _them_," Kit said with disgust, then looked out onto the field. Lyra and Khoury looked at each other strangely, but Kat smiled and walked up to them.

"It's okay, she's _always_ like that," she stated, leading the two to the bridge that went over the river. As they arrived, however, Satsuki walked out of the house holding a tray of round ceramic cups.

"The tea's ready," she called, handing everyone in the yard a cup and unfolding a blanket out. Everyone, except for Kit, who refused her tea and continued to sit on the porch by herself, kneeled on the blanket, and Tohmas, Lyra and Khoury followed suit. Each Kimono Girl rotated their cup and took a sip. Kat, who was sitting next to Lyra, poked the brunette with her elbow and caught the other two's attention as well.

"It's traditional to turn your cup around before drinking," she explained briefly, demonstrating and then taking a sip. Tohmas copied the girl first, then Khoury, and finally Lyra. The four Kimono Girls all looked at each other and smiled.

"So are you and your sister Kimono Girls as well?" Lyra asked Kat.

"Not yet, but we're training to be," she replied. "It'll probably be a while before we are in the official group, though." She paused to take a sip of her tea. "But enough about me. I want to hear about your adventure so far. How's it like to travel around the world?"

"Traveling is amazing. I love visiting new places, because each city is so unique and different from each other!" Lyra described. "Plus, I'm a Pokémon Trainer, so I love visiting cities and challenging their Gyms."

"Uh... wait, wha?" Kat asked, a look of confusion appearing on her face.

"It means that she battles in the Pokémon Gyms for their badges," Kit said, surprising them all with her voice. She was standing up and looking down at the group from the porch. "Show your badges." Lyra opened her mouth angrily to argue about her rudeness, but Tamao caught her eye and shook her head. With a sigh, Lyra retrieved her Badge Case from her backpack and opened it up, showing her two badges gleaming in the bright afternoon sunlight. All the Kimono Girls observed with interest. Khoury noticed the four of them exchange glances once again. "Two badges, that's it?" Kit finally said after staring at the two.

"My Pokémon worked hard for these two badges," Lyra said angrily, standing up and putting her badge case away.

"And Lyra battled extra hard to get the Zephyr Badge," Khoury added. Kit glared at the two with her arms crossed.

"Please. My Pokémon wouldn't even have to break a sweat to get all eight badges," she said smugly. Lyra growled at the stubborn brunette and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Fine, then battle me!" Lyra proposed. "I'll show you how strong my Pokémon are from the Gym Battles they competed in." A small grin appeared on Kit's face, and she placed her hands on her hips.

"A battle? That sounds excellent," she replied. Satsuki stood up and looked at the two brunettes.

"I have an idea," she muttered, looking at Khoury. "Young man, you're a Pokémon Trainer, right? Why don't you team up with Lyra, and Kat will team up with Kit?"

"You mean like a Tag Battle?" Khoury asked. Kit scoffed at her sister's remark.

"I don't need dead weight like Kat dragging me around the battlefield!" she snapped. Satsuki glared at her little sister, and Kat stood up happily.

"Aw, c'mon Kit! It'll be fun!" she piped up.

"And while you four are battling, we can get our pictures taken by Tohmas," Sumomo explained. The brunette Kimono Girl was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine..." she muttered, and Kat cheered loudly, kicking off her wooden sandals and the large group separated. Tohmas and the four older Kimono Girls walked to the front of the house while Khoury and Lyra stayed with Kit and Kat. The four Trainers walked onto a large grassy area big enough to be a battlefield and each stood next to their tag battle partners: Lyra standing with Khoury and Kit standing beside Kat on opposite sides of the battlefield.

"Each Trainer will use one Pokémon each, and the team who loses both of their Pokémon lose the round, deal?" the brunette Trainer suggested, fixing her puffy white cap over her head. "And you two choose your Pokémon first."

"Fine. I'll beat you two with any Pokémon," Kit replied confidently, pulling a Poké Ball from her belt and pressing the silver button in the middle to make it larger. "I choose you Plume!" The Poké Ball burst open and released a bipedal weasel-like Pokémon with dark fur on its body. It only had one ear, and the other was replaced by a large red feather. There were three other feathers of the same type on its behind, and it had an amber gemstone on its forehead and chest. Its hands were white claws that it swung when it was released. It didn't say anything however, and as soon as it realized it was in a battle, it looked down at the grassy floor in silence. Kat giggled and pulled out a green Poké Ball with four red upside-down teardrop markings on it; a Friend Ball.

"My turn next! I choose you, Calypsa!" she called, tossing the Friend Ball into the air, which then exploded and released a fluffy brown and tan cat-like Pokémon. Tied around its left ear was a light green bow.

"Eevee!" it uttered happily, sitting proudly with its chest stuck out arrogantly.

"Aw, look at the little cutie!" Lyra exclaimed, pulling out her Pokédex and scanning the cat-like Pokémon. **"Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. Eevee is a unique Pokémon that can adapt to its environment by changing its form and abilities when evolving."** Khoury pulled out his Pokédex and scanned Kit's Pokémon as well. **"Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Sneasel can extend or retract its claws instantly during attack."**

"A Normal-type and a Dark and Ice-type," Khoury muttered to himself as he slipped his Pokédex back into his pocket and replacing it with a Poké Ball. "Totodile, give me a hand!"From his Poké Ball, the Big Jaw Pokémon came out, looking pumped and ready to battle.

"Mareep, it's your turn!" Lyra called, flinging her Poké Ball into the air. In an instant, it burst open, releasing the sheep-like Pokémon from the orb. The Pokémon bleated loudly and crouched down, ready for battle. "So who wants to go-"

"Plume, use Quick Attack on Mareep!" Kit commanded, cutting Lyra off mid-sentence, making her flinch in surprise. Plume looked up at Mareep and nodded. Suddenly, it shot at the Wool Pokémon, running as fast as it could. Mareep waited worriedly for an order, but Lyra was too slow and Sneasel was too fast. The Sharp Claw Pokémon slammed its body into Mareep's, causing the yellow and blue sheep Pokémon to bounce backwards. Lyra gasped, but Khoury was on top of it.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" Khoury ordered, pointing at Plume. The light blue Pokémon took in a deep breath and faced Plume to fire water at it.

"Calypsa, Sand-Attack!" Kat called, catching Khoury by surprise. The young Kimono Girl's Eevee charged at Totodile and turned its body around. It then started kicking dirt from the grass below with its back paws right into Totodile's eyes. The Pokémon called out in pain and flinched back, firing a Water Gun attack without aim. The water shot into the air and sprinkled down over the battlefield like an afternoon shower.

"Toto!" it snarled in pain, rubbing its eyes with its hands to get the dirt out.

"Mareep, ThunderShock, let's go!" Lyra said to her Mareep, after snapping herself out of her own thoughts. Mareep stood up from the ground and its ears became surrounded in light blue static. It then fired a stream of light blue electricity from its body at Sneasel. Plume was struck by the electricity and it called out in pain, but it broke free and jumped away.

"Lyra, they're good, but this is my first Tag Battle. It's very overwhelming for me," Khoury whispered to the brunette next to him.

"I know, same here. I'm just gonna wing it, though. Mareep, Growl attack!" In an instant, Mareep took in a deep breath and released an ear-splitting cry that distorted the air around it. Both Plume and Calypsa were surprised by the sudden yell and covered their ears with their claws and paws. This provided enough time for Totodile to get the sand that Eevee kicked at it out of its eyes.

"Okay Totodile, let's try this again! Water Gun on both of them!" Totodile jumped forward and fired another stream of water from its mouth, first hitting Eevee with the powerful jet and then moved its head and blasted Sneasel with the rest.

"Get up, Plume! Show Mareep your Faint Attack!" Kit commanded.

"I don't think so!" Lyra countered. "Mareep, Thunderbolt!"

"Calypsa, use Fake Tears, quickly!" Suddenly, Calypsa jumped in between the two and tears came to its eyes. Its mouth started quivering and it looked at Mareep sadly. It then began to sob quietly, its ears falling down to make it look even more pathetic. Lyra's Pokémon looked at the Eevee with pity and slowly began to walk up to it.

"Don't do it, it's a trap!" Khoury called to it. However, as soon as he said it, Plume jumped forward and pointed to the nearby river that ran through the yard. Mareep took the bait and looked, seeing nothing. But when it did, Plume smirked and struck the Electric-type with one of its claws.

"Reeeep!" it cried out as it bounced backwards but quickly recovered and flipped around.

"That was a dirty trick!" Lyra said angrily to the two. Kat looked at Lyra apologetically, but Kit seemed like she couldn't care less.

"Totodile, use Bite attack on Eevee!" Khoury commanded, and his Pokémon started to run up to Calypsa with its mouth opened.

"Calypsa, counter with _your_ Bite attack!" Kat shot back, turning her glance back to her Pokémon. Calypsa jumped up and charged at Totodile as well. It bared its teeth and jumped forward, biting onto Totodile's arm. Totodile, at the same time, reached its jaw forward and latched onto Eevee's tail. Both Pokémon groaned in pain, but stayed hooked to each other.

"Mareep, go help Totodile out!" Lyra said to her Pokémon, pointing at the pile of Pokémon on the battlefield. Mareep bleated and charged forward, its ears sparkling with light blue electric sparks.

"I don't think so! Sneasel, Icy Wind on the grass below it!" Kit butted in, and her Sneasel opened its mouth, releasing a wind from its mouth with light blue sparkles inside it. When the wind hit the grass, it covered it in a sheet of ice just as Mareep ran over it. The Wool Pokémon slipped as soon as it did on the ice and landed with a plop right on its stomach. Lyra growled as Kit smirked in triumph.

"I've had enough of you! Mareep, use Thunderbolt!" Sensing its Trainer's anger, yellow sparks appeared around Mareep's ears and it fired a blast of yellow electricity from its body without getting up, shattering the ice under it. Shards of ice flew through the air, distracting Plume and causing it to be hit by the Thunderbolt attack.

"Sneeea!" it cried out as the electricity coursed through its body. The broken ice particles also distracted Calypsa, and Khoury took advantage of that as well.

"Totodile, Water Gun!" he commanded. While still locked onto Eevee's body, Totodile lifted its head upward, taking Calypsa by surprise. It opened its mouth to call out, and doing so it let go of Totodile's arm. Totodile then opened its mouth as it thrust its head upwards, sending Eevee flying high into the air. It then fired a stream of water from its mouth as it started to fall, sending Calypsa flying across the battlefield and landing on the grass in a heap of brown soaked fur. Despite the high fall, Calypsa still got up and shook its head. Plume also dusted itself off and got up slowly.

"Okay, this isn't a walk in the park like I thought it was going to be, but we should still be able to beat them," Kit muttered to herself. She then turned to her sister. "Kat, I need Calypsa to power up Plume." Understanding, Kat nodded her head and turned to her Eevee.

"Calypsa, use Quick Attack on Totodile!" the black-haired Kimono Girl commanded. The Evolution Pokémon nodded its head and charged forward. As it ran, a white trail of energy was left behind it and it sped quickly towards Khoury's Pokémon, slamming into it as it did. It kept running until it stopped right in front of its Trainer.

"Plume, use Fury Swipes!" Kit called, and her Sneasel raised its claws. The tips of its claws started to glow white, but before it could move, Kat gave Calypsa an order.

"Alright Calypsa, now use Helping Hand!" she directed, pointing at Plume. Eevee's body became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a stream of it from its body at Plume. When it hit, Plume closed its eyes and the glow on the tips of its claws grew until its entire claws were glowing white. The claws also seemed to grow longer as well.

"Go, Plume!" Kit demanded, pointing at Mareep. The Sharp Claw Pokémon nodded and dashed towards the Wool Pokémon with its sharpened claws extended.

"What happened?" Lyra asked in surprise.

"Kat used Helping Hand attack, which is a perfect move for Double Battles like this. When it's used on a teammate, it will raise the target's Attack and Special Attack," the midnight green-haired boy explained, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"Sneasel already has sharp claws! If that Fury Swipes hits Mareep, he's finished!" Lyra yelled in horror.

"Totodile, we have to do something!" Khoury called nervously to his Pokémon. Totodile looked at its Trainer and nodded. Suddenly, its body became surrounded in a light blue aura and it bent down to the ground. It then reached its hand out and pulled up, grabbing a large round boulder from the ground and lifting it up with one hand. All four Trainers on the battlefield gasped and Totodile tossed the rock with ease straight at Plume, who's eyes were set on Mareep to notice.

"Plume, to your right!" Kit exclaimed. "Dodge!" The Sharp Claw Pokémon looked to its right and gasped when it saw the boulder hurdling towards it. Before it could stop, the chunk of earth collided with it, smashing to pieces and knocking Plume onto its back.

"Was that a new move?" the pigtailed brunette asked Khoury, who was staring at Totodile wonderingly.

"If I'm not mistaken... I think that was Superpower!" the boy replied, taking out his Pokédex and looking at Totodile's attacks. "Did you learn Superpower all by yourself?" Totodile nodded and crossed its arms proudly.

"See what happens when you actually _battle?_" Lyra asked somewhat sarcastically, winking at him and sticking her tongue out. Kat looked at Kit with a confused look on her face.

"Uh... wait, wha?" she asked.

"Totodile learned Superpower just now," Kit replied, rolling her eyes. "That's not good. Superpower's a Fighting-type move, and both of our Pokémon are weak against Fighting-types." She looked down at Plume, who was struggling to get up. _That attack was devastating against Plume, since he's both an Ice and Dark-type Pokémon._ "Get rid of Totodile as fast as you can!" Kat nodded her head up and down and glared out onto the battlefield.

"Calypsa, use Tackle attack on Totodile!"

"Plume, use Fury Swipes on Totodile as well!" As Eevee charged at Khoury's Totodile, Plume raised its claws and they started to glow white once again as they extended. It then ran toward Totodile as fast as it could.

"Mareep, use ThunderShock to stop Plume in his tracks!" Lyra told her Pokémon.

"Totodile, use Aqua Tail on Calypsa!" Mareep's ears became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body at Sneasel. This time, the Pokémon sensed the attack and jumped into the air, the attack hitting the grass and charring it. Totodile, following its Trainer's orders, jumped forward and turned around, its tail becoming surrounded in a spiraling whirlpool of water. It then shoved its tail into Calypsa as it sprang forward, the spiral of water hitting it and knocking it down to the ground. "To your right now, Totodile!" The Big Jaw Pokémon turned and saw Sneasel falling down over it, its claws extended and ready to slice it. However, Totodile landed on the ground and jumped back up, swinging its tail around and hitting it with Aqua Tail as well. Plume called out as it fell and landed on top of Calypsa. "Lyra!"

"Right, Khour! Mareep, Thunderbolt!"

"Totodile, Superpower!" As Mareep's ears became surrounded in yellow static, Totodile's body became surrounded in a light blue aura and it reached down, picking up a chunk of the ground below and pulling it up.

"Mareeeeeep!" the Wool Pokémon called out as it released the blast of electricity from its body, hitting both Calypsa and Plume. As they called out in pain, Totodile jumped into the air and tossed the boulder at the two, smashing them both and knocking them out. The two winning Trainers smiled and gave each other a high-five as Kit stared in shock at the two knocked out Pokémon. She sighed and recalled her Plume back into its Poké Ball.

"Calypsa!" Kat exclaimed, rushing up to her Eevee and kneeling down to pick it up. As she held it, she stood up and looked at the two. "Wow, you two are strong." Lyra and Khoury recalled their Pokémon and walked up to her.

"We still have a long way to go, but that's what happens when you travel for a while," Lyra replied, smiling and holding out her hand. Kat smiled widely and shook it while cradling her Eevee with the other arm. Kat turned towards Kit, and the two looked at each other for a while.

"Do you _really_ get strong when you travel around?" the brunette Kimono Girl asked.

"Of course! There's so many other Trainers out there to battle!" Lyra answered. Khoury nodded his head in agreement. Both young girls were silent and seemed lost in thought when the door leading into the house opened, and Satsuki popped her head out.

"I don't hear any more explosions. Is the battle over?" she asked. Kat turned around and nodded.

"Yup! Lyra and Khoury beat us with no problem!" she said. She reached into her kimono and pulled out her Eevee's Friend Ball, sucking the Pokémon back into it in a red flash of light.

"Well, actually, we were just lucky that Totodile learned Superpower," Khoury added, laughing nervously. Satsuki turned around and all of the Kimono Girls, plus Tohmas, walked out of the house.

"Did you get the pictures for the video?" Lyra asked him.

"Yes, I did," Tohmas replied, showing the brunette his camera and putting it away in his pocket.

"So are we ready to leave?" Khoury questioned.

"Just about. Whenever you two are ready." The two nodded in reply and turned towards the two youngest Kimono Girls. Both of them were looking at each other and each one looked lost in thought.

"Is something on your mind?" Satsuki asked the two as she read their faces. Kit looked away and Kat looked at the oldest Kimono Girl.

"Satsuki, Sumomo, Tamao, Koume... We've been talking about this for a while, but we weren't really sure about it," she started, biting her lip nervously. "But now that we've fought Lyra and Khoury and seen how strong we can become, we..."

"You want to go out and go on your own Pokémon Journey, right?" Satsuki finished for her, grinning sweetly at her sisters. Kit looked up at her sister and her mouth opened slowly.

"How'd you-"

"We've heard you two talking about it a couple times now," Sumomo explained, then giggled.

"Can we? Please!" Kat begged, clasping her hands together in front of her.

"What are you going to do on your Journeys?" Lyra questioned.

"Well, we've been thinking, and Kit wants to challenge Gyms and collect Badges like you do," Kat answered. "And I want to enter Contests and get into the Grand Festival!"

"Those are awesome goals, Kat!" Khoury praised, earning a smile from the black-haired Kimono Girl. Tamao smiled and stepped forward.

"Don't be mad at us girls, but this battle was a set up," she said, causing each of them to gasp. Koume nodded and grinned.

"We knew that Kit wouldn't ask us until she was sure, which meant that Kat wouldn't ask either," she explained.

"So we had you battle Lyra and Khoury to show you how strong you can get if you travel and train," Sumomo added.

"So can we leave?" Kit asked wonderingly.

"Of course you can," Satsuki answered, and Kat cheered loudly. "But, there's one condition. I want you two to sleep here for the night and you can head out in the morning."

"We need to pack anyways, so that part was obvious," Kit muttered. Satsuki turned to Sumomo and gestured towards the two. She replied with a nod and both girls stepped forward. Each of them reached into the sleeves of their kimono and pulled out a Poké Ball. In Sumomo's hand was a Lure Ball, and in Satsuki's, a Great Ball. Sumomo handed Kit the Lure Ball with a smile, and Satsuki handed Kat the Great Ball.

"These Pokémon are for you to take on your Journey," Satsuki told them.

"From us, to you!" Koume added happily. Kit and Kat dropped their Poké Balls and released each one to see what was inside. From Kit's Lure Ball, a tall tree-like Pokémon that was white on the top and brown at the bottom came out. The Pokémon had eyes, but no mouth. It had a white zigzag line going across its stomach and around its body. The ends of its long arms were green and it had a green tail as well.

"Snover!" it cried, and Kit smiled slightly at the Pokémon.

"Oh, wow! That's a rare Pokémon for the Johto region!" Khoury exclaimed, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning it. **"Snover, the Frost Tree Pokémon. Snover mainly live on snowy mountains with little human contact, but are known to approach people out of curiosity."** From Kat's Great Ball, a short brown mushroom-like creature came out. It had green spots all over its body, and there was a hole in the top of its head. Its feet and underbelly were green and it looked up at Kat.

"Shroom!" it said.

"A Shroomish!" Kat exclaimed, picking up her new Pokémon and hugging it tightly. The Pokémon grunted in pain and struggled for breath until its new Trainer put it down. Lyra took out her Pokédex from her pocket and scanned the new Pokémon. **"Shroomish, the Mushroom Pokémon. Shroomish is mild tempered and inhabits piles of rotting leaves inside forests." **"Thank you both so much!" Kat exclaimed, running up to them and hugging them all. Kit recalled her Snover and nodded at Satsuki; her way of saying 'Thank you'. Finally, after all the hugs were given, Kat turned to Lyra and grinned. "And thank _you_, Lyra and Khoury. Without you, we wouldn't have had the courage to ask our sisters."

"It was no problem, really!" Lyra replied, blushing slightly and waving her hand at her.

"It's not like we really knew what was going on anyways..." Khoury mumbled, and Lyra sent him a death glare. When she turned back to Kat, she seemed to be looking shyly at Lyra. Suddenly, she rushed forward and hugged the brunette. Lyra was caught by surprise, but hugged back. When they separated, Kat rushed over and hugged Khoury as well. The boy's face turned red slightly as he hugged her back.

"Well, we should go now. We still have somewhere else to go, right?" Lyra asked, and Tohmas nodded.

"We're going to Olivine City now," he informed her. The group all said good-bye and started to exit the house by the back door. However, before they could leave, Kit walked up to them and was looking at them fiercely.

"Keep in mind that if we ever meet again out there in the future," she said, " I'm going to battle you both and show you how strong I've become." Lyra smirked at her and shot her a thumbs-up.

"You bet!"

* * *

What a touching chapter. :) It was kind of overwhelming how much characters there were in this chapter, but it turned out okay. I always wished that the Kimono Girls were shown more in the anime, but I guess two episodes is enough, lol. Now, I know that normally there are five Kimono Girls instead of four, but in the anime, the fifth one, Sakura, is out on a Pokémon Journey of her own. The two Kimono Girls in training, Kit and Kat,are both OCs of **Jigglypuff's Pillow**. Hope you liked how I wrote them. Their different personalities threw me off a little, haha.

Anyways, a couple things I want to update you guys about. I've already mentioned this before, but I have a section on my profile which I update every once in a while called 'Journal Entries'. There, I give my process on the chapters, when they'll come out, and usually the title of the next chapter. That's a new feature I added, and usually the title gives a hint on what the chapter is about, so check it out every once in a while. :D

One final thing I want to add is that I am no longer accepting OCs. If you send me an OC from this point on, I feel really bad, but I will have to not accept them. Johto is such a little place! ^-^" I will still leave the forum topic open, however, for those of you who want to tweak their OC a little every once in a while. Now to thank the reviewers:

Thank you:

**NightmareSyndrom**

**JapanDreamer09**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**DK114**

**arkee**

**ScotSniper**

**Eon Penumbra**

Okay, that's it for this update! Next chapter, Lyra, Khoury and Tohmas go to Khoury's hometown of Olivine City to take a picture of the famous lighthouse. However, while there, they meet someone who's known all throughout the world. Who could this person be? Find out next chapter! Alright guys, thank you so much for reading/reviewing, and I'll see you next update!


	24. Looking Beyond the Lighthouse!

_As I said last chapter, don't forget to check my 'Journal Entries' on my profile to get the latest updates on how the chapters are coming. Now that summer's here, my time for writing is limited, but I'll try as much as I can to get chapters done in time for the updates. ^-^' Enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 22**

"So what do we need to do in Olivine City?" Lyra asked loudly as the group flew through the air on Tropius and Pidgeot.

"Dad wants to take a picture of the famous Shining Lighthouse that's in the city," Khoury replied, looking back but holding his glasses so they wouldn't fly off his head and fall over ten thousand feet to the blur of a ground below. Lyra pulled her eyebrows together in confusion.

"I thought the lighthouse there was called the _Glitter_ Lighthouse?" she answered back.

"Yeah, there's two lighthouses in Olivine City: the Shining Lighthouse and the Glitter Lighthouse," the midnight green-haired boy said to her. Her eyebrows pulled together even more as she shook her head.

"Why would Olivine City need _two_ lighthouses?" she asked rhetorically, then held her hat and pulled it down over her head. "Ah, I'm so confused!"

"Maybe you should have paid more attention in class," Khoury teased, giggling to himself. Once again, Lyra shot him a death glare.

"We're ten thousand feet in the air. Don't mess with me, buddy," she told him, causing him to immediately stop laughing and look straight ahead. Further ahead, Tropius started laughing at the two's conversation. Tohmas pulled up next to them.

"You see, Lyra, there are two lighthouses in Olivine City because one was built after the other," he explained. "Long ago, before there was electricity, the people in Olivine City used the light at the end of an Ampharos's tail to light the way for sailors who were coming up to the docks. Even though years later, a new electrically-powered lighthouse was built next to the old one, it's still a tradition to light the Shining Lighthouse with Ampharos's tail. So the Shining Lighthouse still stands."

"An Ampharos?" Lyra wondered after his story was finished.

"Ampharos is the final evolution for Mareep," Khoury answered back, grinning. The brunette gasped and beamed happily.

"So we're going to go see the Ampharos at the Lighthouse?" she exclaimed with excitement.

"Yeah. We're actually approaching Olivine City now!" Tohmas answered with a nod, then pointed to a large city down below. Although it was a fairly big city, it was very open. The city was beautiful from a Flying-type Pokémon's point of view, and it bordered the ocean which made it even prettier. On the opposite side of the city was a beautiful beach that Lyra could barely see, but she saw a large tower nearby it.

"This is your hometown?" Lyra asked rhetorically. "It's beautiful!" She looked around for a moment, scanning over the houses and buildings with her brown eyes. "Where are the lighthouses?" Khoury pointed to the south of the city, where there were a handful of docked ships of all sizes against the docks below. To the east of the city was a large section that stuck out. On the section were two lighthouses. One was made of brown concrete blocks and was square in shape. It had a larger base, however, and it had a blue pointed roof with large glass screen in between the roof and the structure itself. Next to it was another tower that was closer to the water. This tower was similar in structure, but with a few differences. The tower had no base, and was rounded in shape. The building was painted white, and it was much taller than the other lighthouse. There were little warehouses in front of the white lighthouse, which was to run the lighthouse. Unlike the pointed roof its companion had, this lighthouse had a ball point turquoise roof, and in between the tower and the roof was a circle of large glass screens so the light from inside could shine though, just like the smaller one.

Tohmas and Pidgeot sped ahead and flew out over the ocean. Tropius flew in place and waited as its Trainer took out his digital camera and snapped an image of the lighthouses. He then flew back to where the two younger Pokémon Trainers were. "Tropius, Pidgeot! Let's land by the lighthouses!" Tohmas called. The two Pokémon uttered a response and flew towards the docks. Some people looked up and others watched with interest as the two giant Flying-types landed on the dock. "Thanks guys," he said to them, then in a flash of bright red light, returned them both into their Poké Balls.

"Do you see the taller white lighthouse that's closer to the ocean?" Khoury asked Lyra, pointing to the large structure. "That's the Glitter Lighthouse."

"Oh, so that means that we'll be going into this one, right?" she inquired, pointing to the smaller building. "That's the Shining Lighthouse, right?" Tohmas nodded and stepped forward, taking out his camera.

"The lighthouse is open to the public, but I made reservations to have it to ourselves for an hour or two," he told them. They nodded to show they understood and started to walk towards it. Suddenly, Lyra stopped.

"Oh, this city is so beautiful! Marill shouldn't miss this!" she exclaimed, taking out a Poké Ball and tossing it into the air. "Marill, come on out!" The Poké Ball opened and in a flash of white light, Marill appeared on her arm.

"Marill, Mair!" it cried happily, hugging onto its Trainer's arm.

"I know I haven't been letting you out of your Poké Ball much, but we're traveling a lot these days, and I don't want you slowing us down by running off," Lyra explained to her Pokémon. It laughed nervously and the three continued towards the tower. As they approached it, Lyra noticed how old, but sturdy it looked.

_I'd love to see what this thing has seen throughout the years,_ Lyra thought to herself, a smile spreading across her face as Tohmas walked up and opened the large double wooden doors. They both opened up easily, but creaked loudly, which was made even louder because of the echo in there. The group of three stepped further inside and was greeted by a slightly portly, aging man who's dark brown hair was tied up into a high ponytail. He wore small circular spectacles, and his skin was very tan from the sun's rays. He wore a button up green aloha shirt with orange slice patterns on it.

"Hello, are you all with the Johto Festival that has made reservations?" he greeted. When he saw them, he paused and looked at the group with a puzzled look on his face. "Tohmas, Khoury, is that you?"

"Hello Myron. How have you been?" Tohmas asked politely, shaking hands with the man.

"I've been great, thank you!" he replied, then put his hands on his hips. "So you're head of the Johto Festival now, eh? Good for you." He paused and looked at Khoury with a smile. "Hello Khoury! My, have you grown! I still remember when you were a little guy."

"Thank you, sir," Khoury thanked, bowing politely. Myron's glance then cast its look at Lyra.

"I don't believe I've met you before, young miss."

"This is Lyra. She's part of the staff of the Johto Festival," Tohmas explained. "She's also a great Pokémon Trainer."

"It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Myron, and I'm the caretaker of these lighthouses," he introduced.

"The same here, sir," Lyra replied.

"Marill, Mair!" Marill cried, introducing itself as well.

"Oh, and this is Marill," the brunette added, laughing nervously as Myron waved at her Pokémon hanging off her arm.

"It's nice to see all of you," he replied, chuckling to himself for a moment. "Would you three like to come up and meet Sparkle?"

"Sparkle?" the brunette Trainer wondered aloud.

"That's the name of the Ampharos that lights up the lighthouse," Myron explained as he turned around and started walking up the stairs.

"Yes, please!" Lyra cheered, and smiled as the group followed the chubby man. The whole tower was mostly composed of stairs that lead to the top room, but there seemed to be other rooms in the tower. Myron didn't say much as they walked up, and didn't really try to converse with them, either, despite his friendly nature. Finally, the group reached the top of the stairs. The room was very large, but basic. It was square shaped, much like the tower, and the floor was composed of purple tile. The room was very humid because of the sun beating down inside it, and one of the windows was pulled open like a screen door, letting a soft breeze come into the muggy room. In the middle of it, there was a strange structure that had a glass tube hanging down from the top of the high ceiling. As they reached they entered the room, they were greeted by a yellow and black Pokémon that was almost the same the height as Lyra. It was mostly yellow, except for the black stripes on its neck, ears and tail and the white belly. It had a red gem on its forehead, and a similar one on the end of its tail. It happily rushed up to the four and greeted them happily.

"Rrryu, ryu!" it exclaimed happily, and licked Lyra's face, then Khoury's.

"Aw, she's adorable!" Lyra giggled, taking out her Pokédex and scanning the creature. **"Ampharos, the Light Pokémon. The tip of its tail shines so brightly that in days gone by people used it to send signals to each other with the light."**

"This Ampharos is certainly a very energetic one," Tohmas commented.

"Sparkle loves it when guests come visit the tower. She especially loves kids, because they have as much energy as _she_ does," Myron explained, chuckling to himself as Sparkle rushed around the room. Lyra grinned and pulled out a Poké Ball from her pocket.

"Mareep, come on out!" she declared, tossing the ball to the floor. As it bounced off the tile, it opened up and released the Wool Pokémon from it. "Mareep, I have someone that I'd like you to meet!" The sudden flash of light surprised Sparkle, and it looked over in curiosity. When it noticed Lyra's Mareep standing next to her, it ran over with excitement.

"Rrrryu, yu!" it greeted.

"Reeep, reeep!" Mareep responded back.

"Mareep, this is Sparkle. She lights up the lighthouse here at night," Lyra told it. Marill jumped down from her arm and walked up the the two Electric-types as well. After talking for a few moments, the three ran off and started chasing each other around the room.

"So you have a Mareep," Myron stated, looking at Lyra and grinning. "And a mighty fine one at that. It looks very strong." Lyra blushed and waved her hand at him.

"Aw, shucks. Thanks, sir. Mareep certainly helps me when I'm in a jam."

"I'm sure it'll make a fine Ampharos someday," he complimented, and Lyra giggled to herself.

"That's very sweet; thank you!" she replied.

"Would it be all right if I took a couple snapshots of Sparkle for the promotional video?" Tohmas questioned, taking out his camera and showing Myron.

"Of course you're welcome to," he answered. "Sparkle loves photography and she's very good at posing for pictures." Myron turned his head. "Sparkle!" Ampharos looked up from its game of chase with Marill and Mareep and looked at Myron with its head cocked. "Sparkle, this man over here wants to take a picture of you; is that all right?" The Pokémon cooed and giggled with excitement and abandoned its new friends to run up to Tohmas. Tohmas laughed and held out his digital camera in front of him. Sparkle rushed to get in front of the camera, and jumped on one leg, holding the other in the air and raising both of its hands high above. It smiled widely as Tohmas pressed a button on the camera and it flashed brightly.

"Thank you very much, Myron," the older male said as he put away his camera. "And you too, Sparkle."

"Ryuuu!" Ampharos cooed in reply. It then ran off and started chatting with the two friends that it had abandoned minutes before.

"That picture looked like it came out great, Dad!" Khoury stated.

"It did. I think it's one of the best photos in the gallery so far," he replied to his son.

"It's been a while since I've last seen you two," Myron said. "What made you decide to start this?"

"It was my wife's dream to show everyone how beautiful Johto is, so I'm here to try and complete that dream for her," Tohmas explained, and the two went into conversation from there. Lyra and Khoury removed themselves from the discussion and walked over to one of the large glass windows and looked out into the ocean by the dock.

"You grew up in this city, huh?" Lyra asked Khoury as she watched a Magikarp jump out of the water and come back down with a small splash.

"Yeah, I love it here," Khoury said, looking nostalgic down at the harbor. Suddenly, his black eyes caught something strange. "Hey, Lyra, what is that?" he asked, pointing to the small object. The brunette squinted her eyes to see what it was. It seemed to be a chunk of white metal on the side of the dock in between the two lighthouses. It had a small rounded spike sticking out of the top of it, and next to it was a pile of black clothes.

"You think it's a placeholder so someone wouldn't lose their belongings?" she asked.

"No, I don't think so. It's moving!" Khoury responded. And he was right. Every once in a while, the creature would twitch or move a little bit. After staring for a while, it got up and walked to the left a few inches, then back and sat back down. "Is it a Pokémon?"

"I dunno, but I'm going to find out!" Lyra declared, turning around and pulling out a Poké Ball. "Time to say good bye to your friend, Marill and Mareep!" The two Pokémon looked at her for a moment, then chatted for a moment before separating. Lyra recalled Mareep into its Poké Ball and Marill jumped up on its Trainer's arm.

"L-Lyra, wait! W-what if-"

"C'mon, Khoury! That thing is the size of my shoe! I don't think it can hurt us _that_ badly if it does attack," the brunette sighed as she put away her Poké Ball. After a releasing a large breath of air from his lungs, Khoury and Lyra both took off.

"Dad, we're going out to the harbor for a little while!" Khoury told his father as the two kids rushed by.

"Bye Sparkle! Bye Mr. Myron! Nice meeting you!" Lyra called as they rushed down the stairs, the brunette being careful not to trip and fall.

After rushing down the huge flight of stairs, the two opened the large wooden doors and jogged towards where they saw the creature. Sure enough, there it was, looking down into the water. The creature was small, and was mostly composed of white metal over its body that reflected the sunlight and caused it to glitter. On the side of its body and on its head, there were holes in the armor. Its underbelly was black, however. As the two approached it, it turned its gaze to look at them with large light blue eyes. "Hey, that's an Aron! They're really rare in the Johto region!" Khoury exclaimed, taking out his Pokédex and scanning the Pokémon with it. **"Aron, the Iron Armor Pokémon. Aron ****has an impressive defense power and eats iron ore in order to build up the metal in its body.**"

"If Aron are really rare in the Johto region, I wonder what it's doing on a dock in the middle of the day?" Lyra asked, puzzled.

"It seems like it's waiting for something to come out of the water," Khoury muttered to himself. "Or maybe it's wild! If it is, I'm gonna catch it!" Suddenly, a dark shadow appeared under the water and bubbles started to surface above it. Just then, the water splashed into the air and a man with short ash gray hair came out of the water. The man was fairly young looking, however. Around his light teal eyes were a pair of dark gray diving goggles. As the man swam up to the docks, Aron looked at the man and looked happily at him.

"Aron, aron!" it cried happily as the man started to climb up the ladder on the side of the dock. As he climbed up, he was revealed to be wearing a black wetsuit with a deep blue stripe across the chest. On his back was a bulky black air tank. Finally, the man stepped on the dock, kicked off his water shoes and took off the goggles in front of his eyes, that were fogging up now because of the heat. The Iron Armor Pokémon ran up to the man and looked up at him with his head cocked.

"I got one, Aron! Just as I thought," the man said in a stern, strong voice. He noticed the two kids staring at him and smiled. "Oh, hello there!"

"Hi. Is that your Aron?" the brunette Trainer questioned. The man looked down at the Pokémon at his feet, then nodded.

"Yup," he replied. Suddenly, Khoury gasped and pointed at the man in the wetsuit with a shaking hand.

"I-I know you!" he exclaimed.

"Khoury, it's impolite to stare and point," Lyra reminded him.

"Lyra, don't you know who this is?" After she looked at the man in front of him, she shrugged. "That man right there is Steven Stone, the _Champion_ of the Hoenn region!"

"He's a Champion...?" Lyra muttered to herself.

"He's considered one of the strongest people in the whole world!" He turned and looked at the man in front of them. "Is that true?"

"Well, actually, I'm not the _current_ Champion of Hoenn anymore, but yeah, I was the Champion for a while," he answered, grinning.

"But, what are you doing here? If you're one of the strongest Trainers in the world, shouldn't you be doing something _other _than swimming in the ocean?" Lyra inquired.

"L-Lyra! That's rude!" Khoury snapped, unlike his usual quiet self. Steven, however, chuckled to himself.

"Actually, I was looking for this," he said, reaching into the breast pocket of his wetsuit and pulling out a beautiful rock. It was almost crystal-like, but had a touch of blue coloring in it. The rock itself was see-though, and it looked like bubbles of air had gotten trapped inside it when it was being formed.

"A Water Stone?" Khoury said aloud, puzzled.

"I like to collect rare rocks and stones, and some of my favorite to collect are the several Evolutionary Stones," he explained.

"Those are the stones that evolve some types of Pokémon, right?" Lyra asked her friend, who nodded his head and looked at Steven for him to continue.

"While I've been here, I've noticed that there are many Staryu that approach the docks here at night. Staryu evolve into Starmie with the help of a Water Stone, and since there were Staryu in this part of the ocean, I knew that if I searched hard enough, I'd find a Water Stone eventually," Steven explained, putting the Water Stone back into the pocket.

"Makes sense..." Khoury noted to himself.

"Well, that's not _really_ what I meant," Lyra said, crossing her arms over her chest as her Marill jumped off to talk to Steven's Aron. "What I meant was, shouldn't you be in the Hoenn region? Why are you in Olivine City and in the Johto region?" Steven laughed to himself at her question.

"Oh, sorry. The _main_ reason I'm here is because the current Gym Leader, Jasmine, is traveling through the Sinnoh region right now, so I'm here to take her place as the Gym Leader of Olivine City until she returns." Both Lyra and Khoury gasped suddenly and their eyes looked like large saucers.

"S-so _you're _the Gym Leader here?" Lyra asked, astonished at his statement. Khoury released a nervous sigh and looked at Lyra with a nervous smile.

"Boy, Lyra, you're going to have a hard time earning the badge at _this_ Gym," he told her. "I'm glad I'm not in _your _shoes!"

"Oh, so you're a Pokémon Trainer...?" Steven asked, trailing his sentence as if to ask her name.

"Oh, yes! I'm Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town. I'm a Pokémon Trainer, and yes, I'm collecting badges right now."

"Hi, I'm Khoury, I'm trying to be a Pokémon Breeder," he added. Steven nodded at the two of them, then turned his gaze to Lyra.

"So Lyra, are you here to challenge me to a Gym Battle?" the older Trainer asked. Lyra laughed nervously and shook her head, her pigtails waving back and forth.

"Nah, we're part of a group called the Johto Festival, so my Badge collecting is on hold for a while," she replied.

"Oh, that's too bad," Steven said, putting his hands on his hips. "The Gym hasn't gotten a challenger in the past two days, so I was hoping that you'd come to challenge me." He paused for a moment and looked down at his Aron. "Would you still like to battle, though? I'd love to be your training partner if you need it."

"Um, I don't know about that. You'd wipe the floor with me in no time," Lyra's response was. Khoury gasped and jumped next to her. He got close to her ear and cupped his hand around his mouth so Steven couldn't hear or see what he was saying.

"Lyra, it isn't every day that you get to see a Champion, let alone battle one... let alone one challenges _you_ to a battle! This is a really rare opportunity that you shouldn't let slip from you!" he whispered. Lyra pulled back and looked at Khoury with her eyebrows pulled together.

"How out-of-character you are right now, Khoury," she said, sighing. She then whipped her head up and looked at Steven fiercely. "Okay Steven, I accept your challenge. It'll give me a sneak peek on your battling style anyways." Steven beamed at Lyra handsomely.

"Excellent!" he said, moving and making room for the two to battle. "This will just be a one-on-one battle, okay?" Sensing their Trainers getting ready to battle, Marill and Aron separated and ran over to their respected Trainers. As it approached, Steven looked down at his Aron. "Aron, you wanna give it a shot?" The Pokémon stopped and nodded. "Okay then Aron, I choose you!" The Iron Armor Pokémon charged forward and stopped in front of its Trainer, glaring at Lyra, as if saying 'I can take on anything you got, girly!'.

"Lyra, Aron is half Rock-type, so Water-type moves have the advantage," Khoury suggested.

"Great thinking, Khour!" she replied, looking down at her Marill. "Alright then, Marill, you're up! Go!"

"Marill!" it called out, then jumped forward in front of its Trainer as well. Steven turned his head and looked at Khoury, smiling.

"Hey, Khoury was it?" When the midnight green-haired boy nodded, Steven pointed to the side of their makeshift battlefield. "Could you referee the battle for us?" The young Pokémon Breeder nodded his head again and walked over to the middle of the two.

"Okay, the one-on-one battle between Lyra and Steven is about to begin! Who wants to make the first move?"

"Ladies first, Steven," Lyra smirked. The ash gray-haired man nodded in agreement.

"Begin!" Khoury exclaimed, waving his arms down.

"Okay Marill, start off strong! Aqua Jet!" The Aqua Mouse Pokémon jumped into the air right away and became surrounded in water. It then shot straight at Aron like a rocket.

"Aron, Harden!" Steven retorted right away. Not skipping a beat, Aron crouched together and its body started to shine. Marill then came from above and slammed into Aron at full force. The powerful Water-type attack slammed into Aron's head and managed to push it backwards some, but it didn't seem hurt much when the water disappeared and Marill fell to the ground in front of it. "Now, use Iron Defense!" Aron didn't get up from its crouching position; instead its body became outlined in light blue and the steel on it shone briefly.

"He's trying to raise its Defense..." Lyra muttered as she bit her lip nervously, thinking of a strategy. "It's already got high Defense as it is... Then let's try a Special Attack! Marill, Water Gun!" Marill jumped back and as it did, it sucked a deep breath of air into its body.

"Aron, use Protect!" Steven called, and suddenly a light blue force field appeared around Aron's body. Just then, Marill fired a powerful stream of water from its mouth at Aron. However, the attack hit the force field and bounced off, wetting the painted white wood of the dock they were standing on. "Now use Take Down!" As the light blue energy shield disappeared around Aron, the Iron Armor Pokémon ran forward and charged.

"Marill, it isn't all that fast, so we'll be able to counter it with a Aqua Jet attack! Go!" Lyra instructed. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon landed on the ground and looked at Aron, who was still making its way towards Marill to hit it with a Take Down attack. It nodded and suddenly, water surrounded its body once again and it shot forward, ready to collide with Aron. Instead of flinching, Aron continued to charge forward. It then jumped forward and collided with Marill. The force of the attack on Aron's part was enough to knock Marill backwards and out of its own water rocket. The water fell over Aron's body as it landed, but it didn't seem to be hurt by the attack. "W-what? It wasn't hurt by the Water-type attack at all!"

"I knew you'd counter with some type of Water-type attack when my Aron went in to attack, so I raised Aron's Defense with Harden and Iron Defense so it could charge right through," Steven explained calmly. "Now Aron, Metal Claw!"

"Marill, get up and blast it with your Water Gun!" the brunette commanded.

"Marill..." it muttered and stood up, shaking off the pain from the last attack and firing another stream of water from its mouth at Steven's Pokémon.

"Dodge that!" he ordered. Suddenly, Aron jumped to the left just as the water was going to hit it and pushed further.

"Got you now! Look where Aron is!" Steven looked out and noticed that Aron was running against the side of the dock. "Marill, position your body so the water can move onto Aron!" Marill did as its Trainer commanded and the stream of water started to get closer to Aron. "Now Aron _has_ to get hit by Water Gun. Otherwise, it'll fall into the water."

"Aron, jump!"

"Wait, what?" Unbelievably, Aron crouched and jumped high into the air and fell straight at Marill, who was surprised from the attack and stopped the Water Gun to call out in surprise. Then, one of its front legs started to glow white as it landed in front of Marill and it slashed the Aqua Mouse Pokémon with it. The attack knocked Lyra's Pokémon backwards. "Marill, get up! You can do it!" Sure enough, Marill did, but it struggled to stay steady. "I knew you could do it! Now, let's hit it one last time! Water Gun attack!" Once again, Marill released a powerful stream of water from its mouth straight at the Iron Armor Pokémon. As it was about to reach it, Steven's eyes flashed.

"Aron, Metal Burst!" he shouted. Aron lowered its head as the Water Gun attack blasted it and pushed it backwards. The water completely enveloped Aron's body, but inside, Lyra could see Aron's body glowing a metallic color. Suddenly, Aron opened its mouth and an orb of white energy appeared in front of it. The Water Gun attack became smaller and then disappeared as the orb of energy became surrounded by three rings of light blue water. Aron then raised its head and fired the ball of energy from its mouth straight at Marill, which took no time in reaching it and exploding. When the smoke from the explosion faded, Lyra's Pokémon was knocked out on the dock floor.

"Um, Lyra's Marill is unable to battle, which means that the winner is Steven and his Aron!" Khoury said quickly, before running over to help Lyra and her Marill. Aron rushed up to Steven and he petted its shiny head, noticing that it looked really tired from the battle. He widened his eyes in astonishment when his Aron stumbled to the side but regained its composure.

_Her Marill did much more damage to Aron than I thought. Aron is barely standing!_ he thought to himself as he looked up at Lyra and Khoury, who were comforting Marill as it lay in her arms. After a moment of staring, he walked over to the pile of clothes that Aron was sitting by earlier and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Here Aron, you need a nice, long rest, buddy. You put up a good fight," he said, and recalled it in a flash of red light. As he put the ball back inside his clothes, he approached Lyra and Khoury. Lyra had also recalled her Pokémon back into its Poké Ball and looked up at Steven.

"Like I said, you wiped the floor with me," she said, smiling.

"And you're not disappointed?" the ash gray-haired Trainer asked.

"No, not really. That battle taught me a lot," she replied. "Like for instance, you tend to raise your Pokémon's Defense _and then_ attacking so they become a brick wall of Defense that can't be penetrated when your opponent counterattacks." She grinned widely and giggled to herself. "It also taught me how hard I need to work in order to win the Badge here." Steven half-smirked at her statement.

_She didn't even realize how much she actually _had_ injured Aron during that battle!_ the Pokémon Champion thought to himself. "Lyra, if you continue to get stronger, I look forward to when you walk through the Gym doors and challenge me to a Gym Battle." He reached his hand out and Lyra shook it.

"You can count on it, Steven," she responded. Just then, Tohmas opened the doors to the Shining Lighthouse and walked out.

"You guys ready to go?" he asked, then noticed Steven with the two. "Hey, I recognize you..."

"Dad, this is Steven Stone! He's filling in for Jasmine at the Olivine Gym and him and Lyra just had a battle!" Khoury said excitedly. "This is my father, Tohmas."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Stone," Tohmas greeted, shaking the younger man's hand.

"Please, Mr. Stone is my father. Call me Steven." When the two separated, Tohmas looked at Lyra and Khoury.

"Let's get going. We only have one more stop and we can begin the Johto Festival!"

"Really?" Lyra cried out.

"Yup! Blackthorn City is our final destination," Tohmas replied, taking out two Poké Balls and tossing them into the air, releasing his Tropius and Pidgeot from the spheres in two flashes of white light. The group climbed on the Flying-types right away. "To Blackthorn City, guys!" As the Pokémon started flapping their wings and hovering off the ground, they all waved at Steven who looked up at them with a smile on his face.

"Nice meeting you, Steven!" Khoury shouted.

"I'm looking forward to our Gym Battle!" Lyra added, waving her arm back and forth while holding her hat with the other. Steven waved and watched the group fly away, the smile never fading from his face.

"I'm looking forward to that battle, too, Lyra," he said to himself, then shivered. "I don't know whether to be scared or excited to see how strong that girl gets." He turned around to collect his clothes and scuba gear from the docks. _All I know is, she's got the potential to be someone great._

* * *

Steven! I was so bummed when I found out Steven Stone, the CHAMPION OF THE HOENN REGION, was only in ONE episode of the anime. He had the potential to be such a great character! I see Steven as one of my favorite Pokémon Trainers in the entire Pokémon series. He's such a great guy, and he's got both an Aggron _and_ a Metagross on his team. That's badass. And since Jasmine says that one of her colleagues is watching the Gym for her, and she mentions 'him', I decided to make Steven the temporary Gym Leader, since they're both Steel-type Trainers. I can't believe he was replaced by Wallace, though. I was so mad when I found that out in Emerald.

Also, a little update. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make next update, due to the fact that I won't be home at all that week. :( I'm really sorry, and if there was any other way, I would, but there's just no way I'm going to be able to update. I need a break anyways, lol. But anyways, I won't be able to make the next update, but the one after that, I will guarantee!

Anyways, I'll thank the reviewers now, since I don't have much else to say:

Thank you:

**ScotSniper**

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**Chriss111**

**arkee**

**Jigglypuff's Pillow**

**JapanDreamer09**

Okay, that's it for this chapter. Next chapter, Lyra, Khoury and Tohmas arrive in Blackthorn City, and Lyra meets the powerful Dragon-type Gym Leader Clair. What will she be like, and will Lyra challenge her to a battle? Find out next chapter! That's it for this update, guys. Thanks so much for reading/reviewing. See you next chapter!


	25. One Final Stop

_I put up a new poll, so be sure to vote in that, because it may change the story in a somewhat dramatic way, I guess, lol. Anyways, enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

"Blackthorn City is a very quiet city that is the home to many Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers," Khoury explained to Lyra as they flew on Tropius's back, its large wings cooling the two off from the afternoon sun above with a gust of wind every time it would flap them.

"Is there a Gym there?" the brunette asked.

"That's actually where we're heading right now," Tohmas answered back as he flew up beside them on his Pidgeot. "It's run by Clair, who's a Dragon-type Gym Leader, and one of the few Dragon-type Gym Leaders in the world."

"Wow... in the whole world?" Khoury nodded.

"The Blackthorn Gym is also where all Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers go at one time or another to receive training," he added, fixing his black-rimmed glasses.

"_All_ Dragon-type Trainers...?" she muttered to herself, then gasped. "Hey, does that mean that Fabu-Lance of the Elite Four of Kanto and Johto trained there?"

" 'Fabu-Lance?' " Khoury repeated, his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Lyra realized what she said and giggled to herself.

"Oh, my friend Marina has a _huge_ crush on Lance and calls him 'Fabu-Lance'. I guess it rubbed off on me!"

"Actually, Lance of the Elite Four is _from_ Blackthorn City!" Tohmas said to her, causing the brunette to squeal loudly. As she did, she shook in excitement, almost causing herself to fall of the Flying-type Pokémon. She called out in surprise and grabbed onto Khoury's waist in support, almost causing him to fall off as well. The midnight green-haired boy yelled in astonishment and wrapped his arms around Tropius's neck to keep both his and Lyra's balance. Tropius giggled at the two's mishap and continued to fly straight. "There's Blackthorn City now!" As the two regained their balance, the brunette and midnight green-haired Trainers looked down and saw a tranquil little city. Behind it, a huge mountain loomed over the city. The city was somewhat small, but surrounded in forest.

"Aw, what a cute little city!" Lyra commented as Tohmas directed his Flying-type Pokémon to land.

"Pidgooo!" Pidgeot called loudly as it landed on the ground below. Tropius said nothing as it flapped its wings and set down on the Blackthorn streets.

"Thanks guys! You two have been working hard for the past couple of weeks, and I'm so proud of you," Tohmas complimented, then returned them into their respected Poké Balls. Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. It opened up and released a white light which automatically shot onto her arm. The light then condensed and formed into her Marill.

"Marill!" it said happily as it breathed in a lungful of Blackthorn City air.

"Yeah, you're right. The air _is_ nice and crisp here," Lyra replied, breathing in some of it as well.

"Because Blackthorn City is surrounded by woods and a large lake at the foot of the mountain, the air is just about as pure as it can get," Tohmas explained to her as he started to walk. Lyra and Khoury followed him, despite having no idea where he was going.

"We're going to the Gym, right? Do you know where that is?" the brunette asked. Tohmas turned his head towards Lyra and nodded.

"I studied a map of Blackthorn City, so I think I know the location of the Gym. The Gym is all the way north of the city." After walking in silence for a few moments, Khoury spoke up.

"So Dad, what else is there about the Gym here? Are we really just here just because it battles with Dragon-type Pokémon?" Khoury's father smiled brightly at him and chuckled to himself.

"Actually, the Blackthorn Gym is one of the oldest gyms in the Johto region. It's been around for about a hundred years," he replied.

"Wow, a hundred years?" the brunette muttered, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Yeah, and each one of the Gym Leaders were Dragon-type Pokémon Trainers as well," Tohmas added.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Khoury commented. "I can't wait to see one of these Dragon-type Pokémon!"

"Well, you won't have to wait very long. I can see the Gym from here," his father replied, pointing in front of them. Up the path ahead, there was a large mansion-like building that was made of concrete and painted tan. In the middle was the entrance, which was a old fashion sliding door that protruded into the building, causing it to be shaded. Over the entrance was a arch-like design made into the concrete, and above that were two church windows, each symmetrical of each other. By the red-tiled roof, there was one large round window. There was a white concrete fence in front of the Gym's yard, which stopped on the path going into the Gym. At the ends were two sculptures that sat on the platform, looking down at those who entered the path. The one of the left was one of a large creature with small wings on its back and two antennae on its head. In between the antennae there seemed to be a horn-like growth on its head. The other statue was fierce looking. It featured a large creature with large wings and a massive tail which had a flame lit on the end of it. There were two horn-like growths coming out of the back of the creature's head as well. The group approached it and stopped at the gate.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Lyra commented. She noticed Marill looking at the statue to her right with a frightened look on its face. "Those statues are kinda frightening. Especially that one." Khoury walked up to the statue of the creature with the flame on the end of its tail.

"This is a statue of a Charizard!" he told her, then rushed over to the other statue. "And this one is a Dragonite!" Suddenly, the door leading into the Gym opened, and everyone turned their head to see who was coming out. A beautiful woman who had an air of confidence around her. Her light blue hair was wrapped up in a thick high ponytail that was tied with a golden band, but her bangs lay against the side of her face. The ends stuck outwards, however. There was also a strand of hair from the top of her head that was pulled down over her forehead. On her ears, she wore golden crescent moon earrings that hung down and almost touched her shoulders. On her chest, there was a medium-sized pearl, which was attached to the black choker and undershirt she wore, but the undershirt couldn't be seen, since it was covered over by a skin-tight sky blue body suit that had darker blue vertical lines on the sides of it. The suit was cut off at the thighs, and she wore blue boot heels with two black bands around the top, which was by the knees. As she walked forward, her blue eyes locked on them, the black and tyrian purple cape that stuck to her shoulders by two bronze shoulder clasps flowed in the wind. She smiled when she reached them and stopped, putting her blue gloved hands, which also had a large black band on the wrists much like her boots, on her hips.

"Good afternoon. Welcome to the Blackthorn Gym. May I help you?" she asked. Behind her, a very short older man with graying hair that stuck up in the back of both sides of his head walked out. He had a gray mustache on his upper lip, and he wore a black long sleeved button up shirt with red cuffs at the ends of it.

"Hello ma'am," Tohmas greeted. "We're part of the Johto Festival committee. We talked on the phone earlier this week?" Her blue eyes lit up and she smiled.

"Ah, yes, I remember now," she replied, sticking out her hand. "My name's Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader." She glanced down at the short man next to her. "And this is the Gym's assistant, Kaburagi."

"Wonderful to meet you two. I'm Tohmas, and this is my son Khoury and his friend Lyra," he introduced. Lyra waved bubbly at the two, and Khoury smiled.

"Nice to meet all of you," she said.

"What's the Johto Festival?" Kaburagi asked.

"Oh, right, it was your day off the day he called. Tohmas here is going to put me and the Blackthorn Gym in a video that promotes the Johto region," she explained.

"We're also traveling around the world to promote it. We want to show _everyone_ how beautiful the Johto region is!" the taller man added, receiving a nod of approval from Clair.

"Clair, could you show us one of your Dragon Pokémon?" Lyra asked her, stepping forward.

"Hm?" Clair responded.

"Before she became involved with us, Lyra traveled around and collected Gym Badges," Tohmas told the blue-haired woman.

"Oh! Then are you here for a Gym Battle?" she questioned the brunette. Lyra giggled and shook her head.

"No, I'm nowhere near as strong as you are, but I'd love to see one of your Dragon-type Pokémon still, if that's okay," she replied.

"Actually, I was going to ask if we could include your signature Pokémon in the photo as well," Tohmas added.

"Sure, no problem," she agreed, then took out a Poké Ball. "Dragonair, go!" She tossed the Poké Ball into the air and it burst open, releasing a beautiful, blue and white serpent-like Pokémon. On its head were two small wings and on its forehead was a white horn. On its neck was a sapphire-like jewel which resembled Clair's pearl, and it had two of the same jewels on its tail. The Pokémon landed gracefully on the ground to the left of her Trainer and looked at the three people in front of it.

"Oh, wow! She's so beautiful!" Lyra exclaimed, taking out her Pokédex. **"Dragonair, the Dragon Pokémon. Dragonair has the ability to manipulate the elements as it wishes."** Tohmas took out his digital camera from his back pocket and held it in his hand.

"Shall we take the photo now?" he suggested. Clair nodded and turned to her Dragonair.

"This man is going to take a photo of us, okay?" she informed it. The Pokémon nodded its head, and Lyra, Khoury and Kaburagi moved out of the way. Clair looked at Tohmas and smirked, spreading her legs apart some and holding her arms out as fists in front of her. Dragonair pushed its head forward some so it looked like it was going to jump at Khoury's dad. As Tohmas pressed the button, there was a blinding white flash and he looked at the photo on the view screen.

"This came out wonderful!" he said, showing Clair as she walked up to look. "Thank you very much, Clair."

"It was our pleasure, right Dragonair?"

"Aaaaar!" it cried sweetly in response. Just then, a boy started walking towards the Gym. He had messy dirty blonde hair that was parted to the side, but his hair fell partly over one of his brown eyes. His face was blank, and his eyes showed hardly any emotion in them. He wore a black T-shirt with dark purple baggy jeans. On his back, he wore a tan-colored backpack, which was being held up the a single strap around his shoulder. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. Walking beside him was a dark green Pokémon with a red stomach. There was a large horn coming out of the top of its head, and there were two rhombus-shaped holes on both sides of its body. It walked on two legs, and walked with its eyes facing the ground.

"Hey, that's a Larvitar!" Khoury pointed out, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning the creature. "**Larvitar, the Rock Skin Pokémon. Larvitar generally hatch deep within the earth and take a long time before coming to the surface." **Like his Pokémon, the boy walked up the group with his head down, then stopped.

"Is this the Blackthorn Gym?" he asked so quietly that Clair had to pause for a moment to make sure she heard him.

"Um, yes, this is the Blackthorn Gym. I'm Clair, the Gym Leader here. Can I help you?"

"My name is Santos. I'd like to challenge you to a Gym Battle..." he stated. As his eyes scanned the group, something about him struck Lyra as familiar.

"There's something about your eyes..." she muttered, walking closer to try and get a closer look at him, much to his discomfort. He was taller than her, so she had to look up to see.

"Excuse me?" he asked, stepping back some to keep his distance from her as if she had a disease. She glared at him for a moment, then gasped and snapped her fingers.

"I know! I bet you're related to Tuscany and Frieda, right?" she questioned him. The quiet boy pulled his eyebrows together for a moment, then stood up straight.

"Yes, they're my older sisters..." he said. "I assume you've met them?" Lyra nodded her head furiously.

"Your eyes gave it away. You all seem to have the same shaped eyes," she told him. He paused for a moment, then looked away.

"That's not creepy..." he muttered sarcastically, causing Lyra to fall. Marill rolled off her arm and fell onto the dirt path. "So... can we have a battle?"

"Oh, can we watch?" Lyra asked, raising her hand into the air while still sitting on the ground.

"Yeah! I'd love to see Clair's Dragon Pokémon in action!" Khoury exclaimed, turning to his dad. "Can we, Dad?"

"It's fine with me, but I have stuff to do at the Pokémon Center here, so I won't be able to watch," he replied. "You should probably ask the Leader and Challenger, though." Lyra jumped up and Marill jumped back onto her arm after giving her a dirty look. Both young Trainers turned to Clair and smiled.

"Can we, Clair?" they asked at the same time.

"If it's alright with him, it's alright with me," Clair stated. "So, what do you say, Santos? Do you mind an audience?"

"It don't matter to me," Santos responded quietly, taking out a Poké Ball and putting his Larvitar into it. The group said good-bye to Tohmas and they all walked to the Gym together.

"How many Badges do you have, Santos?" Clair asked him as they walked to the battlefield.

"Currently, I have six," he replied bluntly.

"Wow, six of them? I don't even think your older sisters had any!" Lyra said to him.

"Out of the seven of us, I am the second youngest, but the strongest," he told her. "We each have a different goal and dream that we follow. Tuscany likes to collect Pokémon and Frieda is an archeologist. I, myself, am a Pokémon Trainer."

"That's awesome! So am I! I've only got two Badges, though."

"I started my journey about a year ago, so I've had more time than you," Santos said to her. Finally, the group reached the Gym and walked inside. The whole inside of the Gym was the battlefield, with the exception of two other rooms that were on the sides of the battlefield. There was a stadium in the middle of the room, and in the center of the stadium was a large square pool of water. In the middle of the stadium was a platform for the referee, Kaburagi, would stand. There was also a bench on the other side for other people to sit. Lyra and Khoury sat down on the bench, with Marill sitting in between the two, and Clair and Santos made their way to the battlefield. Kaburagi walked up to Santos and the two muttered to each other for a bit before he jumped up onto his platform. Clair was on Lyra's left, and Santos was on the other side of the stadium, nearest Khoury.

"The Blackthorn Gym Battle between Santos of Silver Town and Gym Leader Clair will now begin!" Kaburagi called, taking out two flags, one red and one green. "When all of one Trainer's Pokémon are unable to continue, the match is over. Each Trainer will be allowed the maximum usage of three Pokémon, but during the course of battle, only the challenger will be able to substitute one Pokémon for another." He paused to place the red flag in the hand closest to Clair, and the green one in the hand closest to Santos. He then lowered the flags, then waved them into the air. "Let the match begin!" Clair pulled out a Poké Ball right away.

"I hope you're ready, Santos, because here I go! Now Gyarados, go!" she shouted, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. The ball burst opened and released a white light into the pool of water and suddenly, the light was replaced by a huge snarling sea serpent-like Pokémon. The Pokémon roared loudly and glared down at Santos, who stared unfazed at it back. Lyra, however, yelled loudly and jumped up in fright from the roar.

"That thing is massive!" she shouted, both her and Marill holding their ears. Khoury took out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. **"Gyarados, the Atrocious Pokémon. This Pokémon has a vicious temperament, so use extreme caution. Its fangs can crush stones and its scales are harder than steel."** Santos pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the button to make it bigger. He then tossed it in front of him.

"Nidoqueen!" he called, releasing a blue and tan Pokémon that looked a lot like a Nidoking, but with a smaller horn and larger tan chest plates. This time, Lyra pulled out her Pokédex and scanned it. **"Nidoqueen, the Drill Pokémon. Nidoqueen has thick skin covering its entire body, protecting it from whatever techniques are used against it."**

"I wonder what Santos is planning, because type advantage is not on his side this round," Khoury wondered aloud. "Nidoqueen's a Ground-type and Gyarados is a Water-type. This match will be interesting."

"This whole _battle_ is going to be interesting..." Lyra added, trying to keep her eyes glued to the battlefield as the battle started.

"Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" Clair commanded. Gyarados called out loudly once again and fired a powerful blast of water from its mouth straight at Santos's Nidoqueen.

"Nidoqueen, Protect!" Nidoqueen spread its arms out and a turquoise energy shield appeared around its body. The Hydro Pump blasted the shield, but it couldn't hit it with enough force to penetrate it. "Now use Hyper Beam!" Nidoqueen roared as the Protect attack shattered and started gathering energy in its mouth. Suddenly, an orange orb of energy appeared inside it.

"Gyarados, counter with your _own_ Hyper Beam!" Clair shouted, and Gyarados started charging energy as well. Both Pokémon then fired a beam of orange energy at each other from the orbs that had formed in front of their mouths. The two beams collided with huge force and exploded. Smoke and dust kicked up from the explosion, covering Clair's side of the battlefield since Nidoqueen started charging the attack first.

"Okay Nidoqueen, we have to end this quick-"

"Gyarados, Bite attack! Let's go!" the light blue-haired Gym Leader commanded from inside the smoke. Suddenly, Gyarados shot out of the smoke and dust and thrust its head straight at Nidoqueen. The sudden appearance of the massive Pokémon startled Santos and Nidoqueen both. Gyarados then slammed its mouth into Nidoqueen, knocking it down the ground. As Gyarados started to pull its head back, Nidoqueen stood up.

"Nidoqueen, use Shock Wave!" Santos ordered.

"Aha! That's why he chose his Nidoqueen to go up against Gyarados!" Khoury exclaimed. "Gyarados is Water and Flying-type, so Electric-type attacks do quadruple damage against it! This battle is over!" Nidoqueen's body became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body at Gyarados.

"Don't take me too lightly! Gyarados, DragonBreath!" Clair countered. Gyarados roared and released a powerful green beam of air from its mouth. The beam collided with the Shock Wave attack and expanded into a star-like shape, canceling out the electricity. Santos's mouth opened a little as Shock Wave faded away.

"W-what?" Lyra exclaimed in confusion. Khoury himself looked a little confused as well, but tried his best to explain it.

"I think Clair used DragonBreath as a barrier to block Shock Wave from hitting," he told her.

"That's right; I've raised my Gyarados to counter Electric-type attacks since he has such a weakness against them," the Gym Leader explained. "Your strategy of using Shock Wave was a good one, but not good enough. You're going to have to work harder to get _this_ Gym's badge. Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" Gyarados snarled loudly once again and released a powerful blast of water from its mouth at Nidoqueen. The attack hit its mark and Nidoqueen called out as it was pushed back by the water blast. When the water stopped pumping out, Nidoqueen was still standing, though it looked really worn out. Suddenly, Santos pulled out a Poké Ball and pointed it at Nidoqueen. A laser shot out of the ball and sucked Nidoqueen inside. The light blue-haired Gym Leader nodded in approval. "Good decision recalling your Pokémon. I would have made the same choice." Santos said nothing as he produced another Poké Ball, this time a Great Ball, and tossed it onto the battlefield.

"Gengar!" he called, and the purple Shadow Pokémon appeared in a flash of light.

"Gengar!" Santos's Pokémon snickered, floating into the air to match eyes with Gyarados.

"Interesting choice. You know my Gyarados has Bite attack, and yet you chose a Ghost-type?" Clair pondered, then shrugged. "No matter; Gyarados, use Hydro Pump again!"

"Gengar, use Confuse Ray!" Santos commanded. Gyarados released another blast of water from its mouth, but Gengar shot towards it. At the last moment, it spun around to dodge the attack. However, Gyarados turned its head and managed to hit the Shadow Pokémon. It gasped in surprise as the water hit it and sent it spiraling backwards. "Shadow Punch then!" The Ghost-type Pokémon shook its head and regained its balance in midair. It then raised one of its arms and purple static appeared at the base of its arm and worked itself up to the fist. Gengar then took off towards Gyarados and punched the air in front of it. Suddenly, a large black fist seemingly made of shadows with purple static electricity around it appeared from its fist and struck Gyarados below the neck. The Pokémon called out in pain and waved back and forth.

"Gyarados!" the Pokémon's Trainer shouted in response. However, the Atrocious Pokémon recovered from the attack and glared at Gengar angrily. "Okay, now use DragonBreath!"

"Dodge it, quick!" As Gyarados fired a green beam of air from its mouth, Gengar flipped around and swerved away from the attack. "Great. Now use Hypnosis!" The Ghost-type Pokémon nodded and disappeared from view. Clair's Pokémon stopped its attack and its eyes started glancing around for its opponent, snarling a bit. Suddenly, Gengar appeared to Gyarados's left and when the Pokémon turned to attack it, Gengar clapped its hands together and then pointed its palms at Gyarados. Black circles then emerged from its hands and expanded as they moved towards Gyarados. The Water-type's eyes then began to droop and finally it fell asleep. "Now use Dream Eater..." Even before Gyarados began to fall, Gengar snickered and released a shadow-like version of itself from its body. In a matter of seconds, the shadow dashed right through Gyarados and it called out in pain, suddenly opening its eyes wide for a moment before they drooped back down.

"Gyarados, no!" Clair called, but then shouted and blocked her face with her arms as Gyarados's large head slammed against the ground in front of her.

"Gyarados is unable to battle! Gengar wins!" Kaburagi announced, waving his green flag at Santos's side of the battlefield. Clair looked to be in awe for a moment, but smirked and recalled her Pokémon.

"That was very impressive how you managed to beat Gyarados, Santos," she said, replacing her Gyarados's Poké Ball with another. "But this match is just getting started. Kingdra, I choose you! Let's go!" Like before, the Poké Ball opened up over the pool area of the stadium and the light shot down inside it. The light then faded and a medium-sized light blue sea horse-like Pokémon with a yellow stomach and a single fin on its back appeared.

"Do!" the Pokémon uttered.

"Oh, wow! Look at how powerful that Kingdra looks!" Khoury said excitedly, taking out his Pokédex. **"Kingdra, the Dragon Pokémon. Normally at rest on the ocean floor, but in theories of high activity, even a yawn has enough power to create whirlpools."**

"Oh no... that's bad news for Santos," Lyra commented after hearing the entry.

"Okay Gengar, let's start out strong! Shadow Ball!" Gengar agreed by putting its hands together. They then started to become surrounded in light blue static electricity and a black ball of energy formed in between them. Gengar then thrust its hands forward and fired the ball straight at Kingdra.

"Kingdra, use Agility to dodge it!" the blue-haired Gym Leader shouted. Kingdra nodded and it suddenly disappeared with only the ripples from the water telling the others where Kingdra had dashed off to. Lyra and Khoury both gasped.

"Wow, it's so fast!" the male exclaimed. Santos himself looked stunned at Kingdra's speed as well. Kingdra, however, had not reappeared, and his eyes scanned the water's surface, trying to see where the Dragon Pokémon had gone. All of a sudden, he gasped.

"It's under the water! Gengar, float away!"

"Good thinking, but not fast enough. Kingdra, use Twister!" Clair ordered, a smirk appearing on her face. The light blue Pokémon surfaced from under the water and it started to wave the fins that were on its face back and forth. A giant twister then appeared around Kingdra and it sucked up some of the water, forming itself into a water tornado. It then began to move toward Gengar, exiting the pool of water and rushing towards the Shadow Pokémon. Gengar looked shocked and started to float away in the opposite direction, but Kingdra started to move its fins faster, causing the Twister attack to move forward faster as well. Finally, the attack grabbed up Gengar and swallowed it. The Pokémon started to call out as it was tossed, turned and spun inside the tornado. Finally, the tornado disappeared and Gengar fell to the ground in a heap. Kaburagi stared at Gengar, his hands gripped to the flags, ready to announce the results if need be. However, Gengar twitched and put one of its arms above its head, then onto the ground. It was breathing heavily and it struggled to get up onto its knees.

"Gengar! Get up!" Santos exclaimed. Clair smiled and put one of her hands on her hips.

"Okay, I've seen enough. Kingdra, finish it off with Hydro Pump!"

"Doo!" her Pokémon replied, taking in a deep breath and firing a powerful blast of water from its mouth straight at Gengar. The Shadow Pokémon widened its red eyes as it saw the blast coming straight at it, but couldn't respond fast enough. Soon enough, Gengar was overpowered by the huge stream of water and pushed against the wall. When Kingdra cut off the water flow, Gengar was slumped against it, unable to battle.

"Gengar is unable to battle, and Kingdra wins!" Kaburagi announced. Clair smiled and put her hands on her hips.

"Great work, Kingdra. You did excellent," she complimented. Santos said nothing as he recalled his Gengar and pulled out another Poké Ball, tossing it onto the battlefield. In a flash of light, his Nidoqueen appeared once again. It looked worn down still from its battle with Clair's Gyarados, however. "So, you're choosing Nidoqueen again? Do you think it can beat my Kingdra?"

"We're about to find out! Nidoqueen, Poison Sting attack!" Obeying its Trainer's command, Nidoqueen opened its mouth and released a barrage of light purple needles from its mouth straight at Kingdra. Kingdra, however, dove under the water and the needles harmlessly disappeared as they hit the side of the pool. "Hurry, before it surfaces! Use Shock Wave!" Right away, Nidoqueen charged forward and ran up to the edge of the pool. It looked down to see Kingdra staring up at it intimidatingly from the bottom of the deep water. Nidoqueen's body then became surrounded in light blue electricity and it fired a beam of light blue electricity from its body into the water. Clair gasped at Santos's tactic as Nidoqueen fired the last of its Electric-type attack.

"You knew from Gengar's battle that Kingdra would dodge under the water, so you used Poison Sting as bait to lure Kingdra under the water!" she exclaimed.

"Wow, what a really smart strategy!" Khoury praised. "Electric-type attacks do more damage to a victim when they're in the water!" Finally, Nidoqueen stopped releasing Shock Wave from its body and the whole battlefield was silent as they waited for the results. The only noise came from the occasional light blue spark of electricity that sometime skipped across the surface of the water in the pool. Suddenly, the water exploded in a huge splash and Kingdra shot out, jumping high into the air. Santos, Khoury and Lyra all gasped simultaneously at the sight of the Dragon Pokémon's sudden appearance.

"Hydro Pump!" Clair ordered, seemingly unfazed by her Pokémon's entrance.

"Do-ah!" Kingdra called, firing a blast of water from its mouth at Nidoqueen. The water soaked it and when Kingdra stopped its watery assault, Nidoqueen was rocking back and forth until finally it began to fall forward, causing a huge splash as it fell into the pool.

"Nidoqueen is unable to battle, and Kingdra wins!" Kaburagi announced, and Santos quickly recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball before it could sink to the bottom and drown.

"I don't understand! Kingdra's a Water-type Pokémon, right? It should have fried at the bottom of the pool!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Kingdra's half Dragon-type," Khoury reminded, but examined Kingdra's undamaged body as it landed in the pool and awaited its next opponent. "Still, that should have done a lot more damage than it seemed to."

"Though your strategy was spot on, Santos, you have to remember that Dragon Pokémon aren't known to be pushovers, and my Kingdra is no exception." Her opponent was very quiet as he debated over which Pokémon to choose. His eyes were glued to the floor and his irises were scanning it back and forth as if reading some kind of invisible text that only he could see. Finally, he pulled his head up and reached into his pocket, taking out a Poké Ball and pressing the button in the center to make it larger.

"Mismagius!" he called, tossing the Poké Ball into the air. It opened up in a flash, and a dark purple ghost-like Pokémon that looked like it was wearing a large purple witch's hat on its head came out. It floated in the air like Gengar, but it had no arms or legs.

"Magius!" his Pokémon uttered, its yellow and red eyes locked on Kingdra. Lyra pulled out her Pokédex to scan the unknown Pokémon. **"Mismagius, the Magical Pokémon. Mismagius chants incantations, and while some cause misery, some give happiness as well."**

"Mismagius?" Khoury wondered.

"Mismagius is my first Pokémon and my number one choice if I'm ever in a difficult situation. I'm confident she can help me win this," Santos told them.

"Very well, then let's begin! Kingdra, start off with Twister!" Clair began, pointing at Mismagius.

"Quickly, Shadow Ball!" Santos shouted. Almost immediately, Mismagius opened its mouth and formed a black and purple orb of energy in front of it and fired it at Kingdra, who was beginning to wave its fins back and forth. The speed of the attack caught both Kingdra and Clair by surprise and the ball exploded as it struck the Dragon Pokémon. "Good job, Mismagius. Now, strike it with a Psybeam attack!"

"Kingdra, Hydro Pump!" the brunette heard Clair order from the other side of the battlefield. Suddenly, a blast of water shot through the smoke and slammed into Santos's Pokémon, pushing it against the wall of the Gym. "Your Mismagius is fast, I'll give you that. But you're not going to get two shots in a row," Clair said with a smirk on her face. However, the smirk quickly faded when Mismagius shot out from the pool water with its eyes glowing a multicolored aura. It then fired a beam of rainbow-colored energy from its eyes at Kingdra, blasting it out of the water and onto the battlefield with a thud. The blue-haired Gym Leader gasped and glanced at where Mismagius had been hit by Hydro Pump, only to see it turn black and disappear.

"I knew you'd try to attack again once your Kingdra was hiding in the smoke, so I had Mismagius use Double Team and hid in the water," Santos explained. "Looks like I _did_ hit Kingdra twice in a row." Kingdra groaned in pain, but shook it away and stood up on the battlefield. "And now your Kingdra's out of the water, which means this will be like shooting Goldeen in a barrel. Mismagius, Psybeam attack!" Once again, Mismagius's eyes became colored in multicolored energy and it fired a beam of the same color at Clair's Pokémon.

"Kingdra, use Agility!" Clair called, and Kingdra disappeared.

"N-no way!" Lyra gasped, putting her hands over her mouth.

"It can move out of the water?" Khoury added, just as shocked. Finally, Kingdra reappeared behind Mismagius, just on the edge of the pool.

"Okay Kingdra, let's wrap this up with Twister!" Again, the light blue seahorse-like Pokémon started waving the fins on its chin back and forth and a huge twister appeared around its body. Since it was at the edge of the pool, some of the Twister sucked up some of the water, forming into a tornado with streams of water around it. Inside the tornado, Kingdra pushed its head forward and the attack shot at Mismagius, quickly sucking it up and spinning it around inside before spitting it out in a heap on the floor. Mismagius twitched for a moment before floating back into the air. It was breathing heavily, but it could still battle. Clair smiled with approval as it did. "I'm impressed. Not very many opponents can take Kingdra's Twister attack head on and still be able to battle."

"Mismagius, do you still have fight left in you?" Santos asked his Pokémon.

"Magius!" it replied, looking at him and nodding.

"Excellent! Then use Magical Leaf!" Mismagius obeyed and spun its body around once, releasing multiple glowing light green leaves from its body that fired at its opponent.

"Block it with Twister, Kingdra!" Like before, Kingdra formed a huge water vortex around it by waving its head fins back and forth. However, instead of firing it, Kingdra let it stay in place, using the water and wind as a shield to suck up the Magical Leaf and have it harmlessly spin around inside.

"You're not going to hit us with Twister again! Mismagius, prepare to dodge it!" Santos commanded.

"Oh, I'm not going to hit you with Twister," Clair told him. "Kingdra, Dragon Pulse!" Suddenly, inside the middle of the Twister attack, a mystifying, bright green light started to glow.

"Doah!" Kingdra called inside, and suddenly the air distorted for a moment as it fired an orb of light green energy from its mouth. The Dragon Pulse shot right through the Twister and fired at Mismagius. However, the Dragon Pulse seemed to _absorb_ the wind, water and leaves and as it shot through, it suddenly became surrounded by spirals of wind, water and leaves. The move was very quick as well, and all this happened in a matter of seconds. Before their minds could analyze everything that happened, Mismagius was blasted by the Dragon Pulse attack and slammed into the wall, knocking it out immediately.

"Mismagius is unable to battle! The winner is the Gym Leader, Clair!" Kaburagi announced, raising the arm that was closest to Clair. Santos looked surprised, and stared out onto the battlefield, then at his Mismagius as if he didn't see what had just happened. He watched as Clair congratulated her Kingdra on a job well done, then recalled it into its Poké Ball. Lyra and Khoury were silent as well. Both of them were going over the battle in their head, remembering how Clair seemed to be ahead of Santos each step of the way. Finally, Santos returned his Mismagius into his Poké Ball as the blue-haired Gym Leader approached him.

"You had some pretty unique strategies, and you should be proud of yourself for that," she said to him. "I think you should train a little bit harder, and when you think you're ready, come back for a rematch anytime." One of the corners of Santos's mouth pulled up briefly, then went back down as quick as it came.

"I learned a lot from our battle. Thank you for this opportunity," he replied, bowing and then turning around to walk out of the Gym. Quickly, Lyra and Khoury grabbed their backpacks, and after the brunette waited for Marill to jump onto her arm, the two walked up to Clair.

"Thank you for letting us watch the battle, ma'am," Khoury muttered, then both of them copied Santos and bowed in thanks.

"You're very welcome. I hope you enjoyed yourselves," she replied. Lyra nodded, but she glanced to see Santos walk out the front doors.

"We should probably be heading back to see what your dad wants us to do," she suggested to Khoury, and the midnight green-haired boy nodded in response. The two walked towards the doors as well, and turned around to wave at Clair. "Good-bye Clair! Until we meet again!" Clair smiled and waved back.

"And I look forward to when you do for our Gym Battle, Lyra!" she called back. The brunette smirked and nodded before turning fully around and running out the door.

o 0 o

"Santos!" the brunette shouted, and the male Trainer turned around, stopping to wait for the two in between the two statues of Dragonite and Charizard. "It was a good battle. You put up a great fight."

"The tactic you used with your Nidoqueen was outstanding. And then when you used Double Team and had Mismagius hide underwater was very surprising. I almost jumped out of my seat!" Khoury complimented.

"Thanks, but my efforts were, in the end, wasted. My usual strategy did not work out," he stated matter-of-factually.

"What are you going to do now?" Lyra questioned.

"I think I'll train my Pokémon here for a while and try again. If I lose, well, I still have another badge I need to get before I get all eight," he replied. He looked down at her Marill, then looked away. "Lyra, you challenge Gyms, right?" The brunette nodded. "Then you better watch out. If we face each other in the Pokémon League, then you're my rival, and I'm going to take you down." She giggled nervously and scratched the back of her neck at his statement.

"Well, I suppose the same goes for me," she replied.

"Until then," he said, then turned around and walked to the left. The two of them watched him walk until they heard a man calling their name.

"Khoury, Lyra!" the voice shouted. When they turned towards the source, they saw Tohmas walking toward them, a huge smile on his face.

"Hey Dad! What's up?" Khoury greeted as he approached them.

"Did you watch the Gym Battle?" he asked, ignoring his son's question.

"Yeah, Santos lost. Clair is amazing," Lyra noted, then smiled at Khoury's father's smile. "Now, tell us; what's with the ear-to-ear grin?" Tohmas laughed to himself and looked proud.

"We're all set for the Johto Festival to begin!" he announced, and the two children cheered loudly.

"That's so awesome! I can't wait to start!" Lyra squealed.

"We head out the day after tomorrow to Slateport City, but that give us time to put together the video and give Lyra the run down of the Festival," Tohmas replied. He looked up at the colors the setting sun was making the skies. "I rented us some rooms at the Pokémon Center here, and Nurse Joy gave us permission to use the computers there to edit some software if we need."

"Woo hoo! Hot relaxing soak, here I come!" the brunette applauded.

"Mair, rill!" her Pokémon copied her, also looking forward to a warm bath. The other two laughed at them and they all headed over to the Pokémon Center.

* * *

*sigh* This is just one of those chapters that I wish it could never end, but at the same time, I'm sooo happy that it did. ^-^' Yay! This is the last chapter for traveling around to take photos! And only one more chapter until the Johto Festival! Let me just add before I wrap this chapter up how sorry I was that I had to miss an update! It couldn't have been avoided. Again, I'm really sorry! TT-TT

One more thing. As I said above, there's a poll on my profile that I posted, and you should all vote for it, whether you review this story or not. It might even change the story a little. Anyways, I'll thank my reviewers now!

Thank you:

**ScotSniper **(Which is another reason for him to have more of a role in the anime. - Thanks for the review!)

**JapanDreamer09**

**arkee**

**Chriss111**

Okay, that's it! Next chapter, Tohmas and Khoury give Lyra the heads up on what the schedule is for the Johto Festival. I'm personally excited to see how this chapter turns out! Anyways, thanks for reading/reviewing, and see you next chapter!


	26. Preperations Complete

_This is pretty much a filler chapter, and it will probably be pretty short, but it gives us a rundown on how things will work during the Festival. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 24**

Lyra could almost hear her muscles sigh in relief as she placed her body into the steaming warm water. She pulled some of the bubbles up to her chest just in case some uninvited visitors happened to walk in and started scrubbing her leg with the yellow shower scrubber. At the foot of the tub, a small light blue orb floated at the top from in between the bubbles. Finally, Marill surfaced from below, shaking the water and soap bubbles from its face. "I'm so excited to begin the Johto Festival, aren't you, Marill?" the brunette asked her Pokémon.

"Rill, Marill," the Aqua Mouse Pokémon replied, shaking her head. Lyra laughed.

"That's just because I can't let you out of your Poké Ball when we're flying around," she giggled. Marill scoffed and looked away. "Don't worry; the whole point of the festival is to promote the Johto region, so I think when people see that you can catch such an adorable Pokémon as yourself, they'll go running here to catch one." Marill had no choice but to smile at this.

"Mair, rill..." it muttered back with a smug and satisfied look on its face. Lyra giggled once again and started scrubbing her arms.

"I thought so." She paused for a moment, but the smile never faded from her face. "I get so excited when I think of all the different places we're going to see!" She admired the cute little bathroom her Pokémon Center rented room came with. Most rooms in Pokémon Centers were the same, except for some of the decorations. Since they were in Blackthorn City, there were, of course, framed pictures of various Dragon-type Pokémon. Normally, her thoughts would have been on Clair's Dragon Pokémon and her amazing defend-attack strategy. However, her thoughts were on which of the various cities or towns all around the world the Johto Festival would visit first.

o 0 o

Khoury and Tohmas lay in the bunk beds that were in the Pokémon Center's rented room. Their room was next to Lyra's. Tohmas thought girls should have their own room, separate from the boys. Khoury had the bottom bunk because his glasses were on the nightstand next to his bed. His hands were behind his head, and he was staring up at the bottom of the top bunk, though his mind was seeing something else. "Dad... are you awake...?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake up his father if he _was_ sleeping.

"Yeah, of course I am. What's up?" Tohmas replied, not as quiet, but still barely audible to Khoury.

"Can't sleep?" he questioned, a small smile on his face.

"I could ask you the same question," was the response, receiving a chuckle from Khoury. "I can't believe it... In a couple days, all of our hard work will pay off."

"And Mom's dream will finally be brought to life," the smaller male added.

"Yeah..." his father muttered above. "You know, son, she'd be really proud of you; do you know that?" This made Khoury raise his eyebrows in surprise.

"Really? You think so?"

"Of course! And you know that I'm proud of you, too, right?" Khoury paused for a minute, and Tohmas knew that he was smiling to himself.

"Yeah, I guess..." he said. There was a long pause afterwards, but Tohmas broke the silence by chuckling to himself.

"I've been noticed that you and Lyra have been getting along well lately," he teased, and immediately, Khoury started to blush.

"W-what are you talking about?" he retorted, receiving a chuckle from his father as a response.

o 0 o

" 'So of course, don't forget and we can't wait to see you all in Johto and soon!' "

"Okay, that's a wrap! Great job, Lyra!" Khoury said, pressing the 'stop' button on his camera. The brunette sighed and slumped slightly as she stepped down from the wooden box they were using as a stool. Behind her was a green screen which was pinned up against the wall. They were in an extra room that Nurse Joy called her 'Multi-Purpose room', which was pretty much a medium sized room with a couple of benches and tables, extra computers and a bunch of old or outdated equipment. Tohmas was at one of his computers, doing only he knew what. Marill, Mareep, Chikorita and Totodile were playing with each other by the benches, running around and giggling amongst themselves. Khoury gave the camera to his father, and Lyra watched as Marill stuck out its tail and tripped Totodile as it ran by, chasing after Chikorita. Totodile fell flat on its face, but jumped right back up and started arguing with Marill. She giggled to herself and helped Khoury pull down the green screen.

"Well, I've pretty much got the video put together, now I just need to add Lyra to it and it should be finished!" Tohmas told them, turning around and standing up from his chair. He reached into the air and cracked his back a couple times. Finally, he sighed, took a sip from his mug of coffee provided to him by Nurse Joy, kindly, and looked at the two younger Trainers. "Lyra, let's sit down at this bench and talk about the schedule of the Johto Festival." She nodded, and the group sat down. Before they did, however, Lyra noticed that Tohmas brought over a large brown sack which one of the men from the Johto Festival had brought over to him earlier that day.

"What's in the bag?" Khoury asked wonderingly as well. Tohmas smiled widely.

"A surprise. But that'll come later. For now, I'd like to explain to Lyra what we'll do during the Festival," the older male replied, turning towards Lyra, who sat across from him. The Festival will only last for just a couple days, from when we set up, to when we shut down, so we move onto the next city as soon as possible." He paused for a moment and looked upon a sheet of paper on a clipboard in front of him. "Now, when we set up all the stalls, we'll sit for a couple hours and wait for guests to arrive and look throughout the stands."

"What's going to be on the stands?" Lyra asked.

"Various items that you can only get in Johto, such as Apricorns, a MooMoo Milk stand, and RageCandyBars," Khoury answered for his father. "The stall that we're going to run has Apricorns, Apricorn Cases, Berry Planters, RageCandyBars, and Apriblenders."

"Right. We'll also play the video we just shot about four times an hour so newer guests can see it," Tohmas added. "Then, there's the battling event, which is the main event of the Festival."

"A battling event?" Lyra repeated excitedly.

"Yup! During it, the person who's going to battle explains about the Johto Starters, and then shows their Starter off. They then proceed to battle a random person in the audience."

"Oh, wow! That sounds like fun!"

"Originally, we were going to have Khoury battle with his Totodile," Tohmas explained. "But, he doesn't like to battle all that much, so we were thinking that _you_ could battle with your Chikorita." Lyra jumped up from her chair and put her hands on the table.

"Yes, I'd love to battle!" she called. The two males chuckled at her enthusiasm, and she sat down quickly.

"Now, originally, we weren't going to have a prize. However, I got a call from Professor Elm himself after you told him about the Festival, and he's very much into the idea of promoting the Johto region. So he sent us these." Tohmas turned his body to the brown bag and reached into it. He then delicately pulled out a round case. It had a golden dome for a top which seemed like it could be removed. At the very top, there was a small opening where the top part of a Poké Ball was sticking out. The bottom was flat as well. The glass in the middle was clear, and both Lyra and Khoury gasped at what they saw. It was a Pokémon egg, much like the one that Mr. Pokémon had given to Lyra and Ethan when she first began her Pokémon Journey. However, the markings on the egg was much different. This one was light green in color, and had small dark green circles all around the middle of it.

"Wow! A Pokémon Egg!" Khoury exclaimed.

"Yeah, and there's a bunch more in here, too," Tohmas replied.

"Do you know what's in them?" Lyra asked, examining the egg further. "This one looks like my Chikorita."

"Yeah, you're right," Tohmas agreed. "Professor Elm said each egg contains one of the Johto Starter Pokémon: Chikorita, Cyndaquil and Totodile."

"Wow! Whoever I choose to fight is going to be lucky," Lyra noted with a sneaky smile on her face. Tohmas nodded his head and put the Pokémon Egg back in the brown sack. As he did, his PokéGear, which was sitting on the computer table, started ringing. Quickly, he got up and walked to the phone so he wouldn't miss the call.

"Hello?" he answered, opening the small device. "Oh, hi Clara!... Yeah, I just finished editing the video a tiny while ago... Did you get the pictures of the Starters from Professor Elm?... Oh! David even edited the video? Excellent! Then we should head out now. We'll be able to unpack and start the Festival by tomorrow!... Okay, see you then! Bye." Tohmas closed the dark blue PokéGear and smiled at the two. "Everything's ready! We're ready to head out to the Blackthorn Blimp Airport!" Both Lyra and Khoury cheered at his remark, and rushed over to recall their Pokémon. The two helped the older man to pick up the equipment and everything that belonged to them, and then exited the room to get to the main lobby.

o 0 o

"So Dad, you never told us. Which city are we going to first?" Khoury asked. They had just checked out of the Pokémon Center, after thanking Nurse Joy excessively for letting them use the multi-purpose room and were now walking to get to the Blackthorn Blimp Airport. Tohmas seemed to be excited to get there, since he was walking in front of the two, who usually walked faster than he did. However, Lyra didn't blame him, and simply grinned at his eagerness. Tohmas turned his head and smiled at the two.

"Our first stop is Slateport City in the Hoenn Region!" he told them.

"Slateport City?" Lyra repeated. The name sounded familiar, but then again, she didn't really study up on the cities in the Pokémon world. There was just far too many of them.

"Slateport City is a really huge city that's by the ocean," Khoury informed her.

"The beach? Oh, now I'm _really_ excited!" the brunette squealed. Her Marill also gave a happy cry in response to the beach as well. Soon enough, the group had arrived to the Airport. Because most Pokémon Trainers preferred to travel on foot to get to places, the airports were never usually busy. Only people such as businessmen or other visiting family members or friends would use the blimps to get to other regions. Lyra, of course, having never gone past Cherrygrove City, was amazed at the sight of seeing a blimp up close. Although it was mostly hidden by the airport itself, she could make out a little of it. And from what she saw, the blimp was huge.

They walked inside the air conditioned building, and Tohmas approached the woman working at the front desk to get their tickets. As the stewardess was typing on her computer and making the arrangements, Lyra reached into her backpack and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Sorry Marill, but I have to put you in your Poké Ball. You understand, right?" Marill sighed annoyingly, but nodded and let itself be sucked into the sphere.

"Here you go, sir! Enjoy your trip to the Hoenn region!" the stewardess told them, handing Tohmas three tickets and opening the doors beside her that lead into the blimp. Tohmas thanked the red-headed woman and the group walked inside.

Giddily, Lyra thought to herself as they boarded, _By this time tomorrow, I'll be in the Hoenn region! I'm so excited!_

* * *

Wow, I think this is one of the shortest chapters I've written in a long time. I just barely made it past the four page line. O-e It was pretty much a filler chapter anyways, to get from Point A to Point B - Anyways, yay! I'm so excited for the Johto Festival to begin! Hopefully it will be enjoyable. I'll at least attempt to wing it, lol. I don't really have much to say this time around, so I'll thank the reviewers now!

Thank you:

**Nianque**

**DK111**

**JapanDreamer09**

**arkee**

**Eon Penumbra**

Okay, that's it for this quick little update. Next chapter is when the fun begins! The Johto Festival! The first destination for Lyra, Khoury and Tohmas is Slateport City; "The port where people and Pokémon cross paths"! Will it be a memorable experience? Find out next chapter! Thanks so much, you guys, for reading/reviewing, and I'll see you next update!


	27. Helping Those in Need!

_Yes! The beginning of the Johto Festival! It will be a big change, and a nice break from all the walking around, right? Hopefully, this arc is over quickly, though. I'll miss the Gym Leader fights, haha. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 25**

The sun was just beginning to set as the captain of the blimp turned on the intercom. "Hello passengers and thank you for flying with us today," he said quietly. "For those of you who are stopping in the Hoenn region, we are now approaching Slateport City. We will be arriving in fifteen minutes, so please stay seated until the blimp is fully landed on the ground." Lyra gasped and looked down through the window next to her. Down below was a large city whose south side was covered with beaches from the ocean. "Again, thank you for flying with us today, and we hope you enjoyed your flight."

"Wow! Look at the city! It's beautiful!" Lyra gasped. "Oh, and the way the setting sun reflects off the ocean just takes my breath away!"

"I have to admit: Slateport City is a beautiful city," Tohmas agreed, looking down as well. Khoury followed suit and nodded in agreement. Lyra watched with wide brown eyes as the blimp floated towards the airport that resided in Slateport City and landed as gracefully as a Flying-type.

"We have now arrived in Slateport City, ladies and gentlemen," the captain announced. "Please exit in a straight and orderly fashion and please come again!"

o 0 o

The group exited the airport and Tohmas contacted the others in his group to see if they were in Slateport City yet. "They said they arrived a while ago, and have already started setting up the stalls and booths," he informed the two kids as they walked towards the section of town that they rented.

"Too bad it's too dark to go to the beach," Khoury mentioned to Lyra, who responded with a shrug.

"We'll be here for a while anyways. We have a whole day to go to the beach, anyways, right?" she replied. Finally, they had arrived into the heart of the Slateport Marketplace, and the brunette stopped to look in awe. The whole area had been cleared out to make room for a large circle of stalls, and some, though more complete than others, were being put together, while others were just getting the cloth covering on them. In the middle of all the booths, there was a large white circular stage with two sets of stairs on both sides of it. A handful of people, as well as a couple of Pokémon here and there, such as Machop, Machoke and Tyrogue, were putting together everything.

"Tohmas!" a male voice called, and a brown-haired man who wore small oval-shaped glasses over his blue eyes walked up to the group.

"Ah, David! So you _did_ make it!" Tohmas greeted, shaking the man's hand. His friend nodded, and nodded a friendly greeting at Khoury. "David, this is Lyra, the actor we hired in Goldenrod City. She's also going to be the person who will battle the Pokémon Trainers on the main stage." David and Lyra shook hands while exchanging a friendly smile to each other, and then the older man turned his attention to Tohmas.

"Everything seems to be going well. Lots of people seem interested in the Festival already, and we've had quite a few of them approach us and ask what we're doing," David informed, the smile never leaving his face. "I'm gonna go ahead and say the Festival is going to be a great success!"

"Don't uncross your fingers yet, we still have a lot to do," Tohmas told him, though Lyra noticed the smile had never left while saying it. Finally, the two parted and the older male turned towards the two children.

"What should we do to help, Dad?" Khoury asked his father, his eyes wide and excited. Tohmas looked around, then locked on a moving truck with many cardboard boxes inside them.

"I know! How about you and Lyra unload that truck. Do you think you can do it?" Lyra smirked and flexed her arms.

"Of course we can do it! Anything to help!" she replied bluntly. Khoury nodded in agreement and the two walked up the ramp and into the back of the truck. The midnight-green haired boy started rummaging through the packages, checking the contents that was listed on the top of them. Every once in a while, he would nod and mutter to himself. "C'mon, Khour! What's taking so long? We're moving boxes, not building a rocket ship!" He glanced up at her with his black eyes and smiled giddily.

"I was just seeing which boxes were marked 'fragile'," he told her. Marill started snickering to itself on her arm, and its Trainer glanced down at it momentarily, then started laughing as well. "These boxes are filled with Berries, so you'll probably be good carrying these, right?"

"Sure," the brunette replied, walking up to him to retrieve the box. Marill jumped down onto the truck's floor to pick up a lone Oran Berry that had escaped from the luggage. As Khoury handed the box to her, Lyra grabbed it with one hand, and with the other, lashed out and punched him squarely in the shoulder. The boy called out and jumped back, holding his arm where he had been struck.

"Hey! What was that for!" he exclaimed. Lyra smirked evilly and snickered.

"For calling me a klutz," she responded, turning her body around, but not her head, and started walking down the ramp. However, the sole of her red shoe caught the latch for the opening of the truck and she tripped, calling out and turning her head just in time to fall forward and land on the box, causing the multiple variety of Berries to come rolling out of the now crushed box and fall onto the ground. Everyone stopped what they were doing to stare, laugh, or do both, but carried on with their duties.

"You were saying?" Khoury's voice was heard saying, the boy and Marill poking their heads around from the inside of the truck.

"Just shut up and help me pick up," Lyra grunted, kneeling on the ground and picking up as much Berries as she could. Khoury chuckled to himself and carefully walked down the ramp, kneeling on one knee to gather some Berries as well. Marill was helping as well, but could only pick up two at a time, due to the fact that it was so small.

After a while, Lyra sighed and picked up a Persim Berry before looking up at the now night sky and twisting her neck to crack it. That was when her eyes locked on a small and dark figure looking straight at them from the shadows. "Huh? What is that?" she asked herself, and dropped the small pink Berry before standing up.

"What's what, Lyra?" her friend questioned, his eyes following her gaze. Marill also stopped and walked up next to its Trainer. "I don't see anything." The brunette, however, continued to stare. When the figure didn't move, she shrugged.

"Eh, I guess I must be seeing things. It's probably just a bush or small tree," she guessed, and turned to kneel back down. However, from the corner of her eye, she saw the figure move away and turned again, suddenly this time. "Wait!" she shouted, and dashed off towards where she had seen the mass.

"Marill!" the Aqua Mouse Pokémon called out, running after its Trainer.

"L-Lyra!" Khoury shouted, but didn't stand up, confused at her sudden outburst. However, the brunette ignored her friend and rushed towards the spot where the figure had been. She just barely missed smashing into a Machoke by dancing around it, and finally, she reached the spot where she saw the figure and came to a stop. As she turned to look for the dark mass she had seen, a burst of orange sparkling powder was suddenly released from out of nowhere. Lyra gasped in surprise at the sudden powder that appeared around her and accidentally breathed some of it in. The powder felt like fire as it moved down into her lungs, and suddenly, she felt her muscles cringe and lock up. Her knees gave way, unable to support her body and she fell to the ground. The pain in her muscles was unbearable, and they spasmed uncontrollably inside her skin. Her vision was shaky all of a sudden, and everything around her seemed to mix and blur together.

"Marill! Marill Marill!" she heard, and saw a blue object appear and looked down at her worriedly. However, all the fading brunette could see was a mix of blue and white over black, green and brown. Finally, Lyra couldn't take the pain any longer, and closed her eyes altogether, passing out on the spot. Before she drifted into unconsciousness, however, she could hear someone yelling her name, though her common sense wouldn't give her a name or face to go with the voice.

"Lyra! Lyra!" Khoury shouted as he rushed towards the girl's side. He held her head to have her face him, but she was unconscious. Fear gripped his stomach, and his eyes widened. He could, however, still see her breathing, so that was good news. He swallowed a large gulp of saliva and turned his head around, still cradling the girl's head in his arms. "Dad! Dad!" He could see in the distance his dad turn to look for whoever was calling his name, and when Tohmas's eyes locked on Lyra on the ground, he immediately started running over to them.

"Khoury! What happened?" Tohmas asked him as he approached.

"I don't know. She ran over here because she thought she saw someone and then fell to the ground! Right, Marill?" Marill nodded in response, its eyes glued to its Trainer in a worried state. "What should we do?" Tohmas paused.

"We need to get her to Nurse Joy right away."

o 0 o

Khoury and Tohmas came bounding into the Pokémon Center's front doors and rushed up to the front desk. Marill was hanging off Khoury's arm and the boy was also holding onto her backpack. Tohmas was holding Lyra in his arms, her head resting in one hand and legs in the other. The two surprised Nurse Joy and she gasped at the two's sudden appearance. "Nurse Joy, you have to help us! This is an emergency." The pink-haired Nurse rose from her chair and looked over Lyra.

"Right. Combusken, bring a stretcher," she said.

o 0 o

Slowly, Lyra's brown eyes fluttered open. Immediately, her eyes closed again because of the bright florescent lights on the ceiling, and she slowly waited for her eyes to get used to them. She sat up slowly and looked at her surroundings. She seemed to be in some type of hospital room of some sort. There was a machine hooked up to her arm, but she was in her regular clothes. Her hat was sitting on a chair next to the bed. She could hear people talking outside her door, and she strained her ears to eavesdrop into the conversation. Luckily, it had just begun. "From the looks of it, it seems that she was hit by a Stun Spore attack," she could hear a female voice say. It sounded a lot like a Nurse Joy. "Was she anywhere near any Grass-type Pokémon?"

"Her Chikorita wasn't out of her Poké Ball..." Khoury muttered. "And I don't even think her Chikorita knows Stun Spore in the first place. All I saw was her run towards this mysterious shadow she kept seeing, then she suddenly fell."

"How odd..." Nurse Joy murmured. "In any case, I gave her a Salveyo Weed Pill, which should help with the paralysis. Combusken, could you go see if our patient is awake, please?" Just then, a tan and orange chicken-like Pokémon walked into Lyra room and looked at her with orange eyes. It then turned its head towards the door.

"Combusk, Combusken!" it cried, and Nurse Joy poked her head in.

"Ah, Lyra, good to see you up," she said, and smiled. Her and Combusken walked in, followed by Khoury and Tohmas.

"Good morning," Lyra greeted, smiling.

"Marill!" her Pokémon cried happily, jumping up onto the bed and into its Trainer's arms.

"Aw, Marill! You were worried about me, weren't you?" the brunette asked.

"We were all worried. It was very surprising to see you suddenly fall down and pass out," Khoury told her. Lyra thought back to the moment of what happened.

"I don't even remember what hit me. I just remember seeing an orange powder exploding in my face. I guess I must have breathed it in."

"In any case, how are you feeling?" Nurse Joy asked, flashing a flash light into her eye and checking her throat with a tongue depressor.

"I feel great! I feel as if I've had a good night's rest!" she exclaimed, flexing one of her arms.

"Well, that's actually because you have!" Tohmas stated, chuckling to himself.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah, you slept all night. It's nine-thirty in the morning right now," he told her. Suddenly, she jumped out of the bed and removed the wires from her arm while still holding onto Marill.

"The Johto Festival?" she asked.

"It's already started, but what about it?"

"Well, what are we waiting for? We have to go!" And with that, she rushed out of the Pokémon Center room. "Thank you Nurse Joy!" she called in the distance as she rushed.

"But, Lyra!" Nurse Joy called after her. The two males chuckled to themselves nervously and Tohmas smiled at the pink-haired Nurse.

"As you can tell, Lyra is doing just fine. I'll be sure to keep an eye on her, though," he assured her, then picked up her backpack and hat. "Thank you very much." Khoury bowed in thanks and the two left the Pokémon Center and rushed after Lyra.

o 0 o

"Oh wow!" Lyra exclaimed as she walked into the boundaries of the Johto Festival. The place was packed. There were people everywhere, Trainers and tourists alike. All of them seemed to be enjoying themselves while looking through the merchandise. In the background, a familiar voice was playing in the speakers, and Lyra looked up to see herself on a large TV screen explaining the Johto region. Not too far behind, Tohmas and Khoury approached and stopped. "Look Tohmas! People came, people came!" He smiled widely as he looked at the festival and all the people enjoying it.

"We better go to our booth in case anyone wants some of our stuff," Khoury said, and him and Lyra walked to the said booth. Tohmas, however, stood, overlooking his creation and never feeling prouder.

"Our dreams have finally come true, Hayley," he muttered to himself, then followed the two children.

o 0 o

"Thank you, and I hope you enjoy your stay!" Lyra said cheerily as she handed over an Apricorn Box to a middle-aged woman. She placed the money in a small tin box and looked at Totodile and Marill who were conversing on the table. Two teenage girls walked by and pointed at the two Water-types, and with an 'awww' and squealing, continued on. "Well, Totodile, aren't you popular with the ladies?" The Pokémon looked up at Lyra, then grinned and stuck its chest out proudly. As Lyra had stated before, the Johto Festival had become a complete success. Many people had arrived, and while most have been tourists, a few Pokémon Trainers had been asking Lyra and Khoury all about the Johto region. A handful of them even told Lyra that because of the festival, they were planning on going to the Johto region after their journey through Hoenn.

Lyra had been sitting back in the fold out chair, relaxing with a bottle of Fresh Water in her hand when Marill suddenly stood up and its ears started twitching back and forth. Then, it turned around and started glaring at something with its beady black eyes. This caught Lyra's attention and the brunette stood up. "What are you looking at, Marill?" Taking a step back, Lyra followed her Pokémon's vision with her eyes, and her brown eyes locked on a homeless child about the age of nine with a Shroomish who had just walked into the Festival. "Are you looking at that kid, Marill?" Marill nodded and looked at its Trainer.

"Mair Ma Marill Mair Mair rill!" it told her, pointing at the boy. His chestnut-colored hair was very messy and his face looked a little dirty, and he wore a raggedy old dark purple t-shirt with a pair of filthy once-white shorts.

"Marill, it's impolite to stare," Khoury scolded.

"No, wait! I think she's trying to say that kid was the one who attacked me last night, right?" Lyra asked her Pokémon, who nodded in response. At once, Lyra jumped out of the booth and both her and Marill started to walk towards the boy. Khoury and Totodile looked at each other and shrugged, but followed the two, Totodile climbing onto its Trainer's shoulder. The boy had not noticed Lyra or Marill approaching and was looking curiously at a Grn Apricorn when she reached him. "Hi there!" she said to him, surprising him and causing him to yell out and jump backwards. Right away, he pointed at Lyra.

"Shroomish!" he shouted in a panic, and the Pokémon jumped in between the two and pointed the top of its head straight at Lyra and Khoury.

"Marill, Slam attack!" she commanded, jumping back as the Aqua Mouse Pokémon jumped into the air and swung its tail like a ball-and-chain. It then swung its tail and slammed it right into the top of Shroomish's head, squishing it against the ground and instantly knocking it out.

"Ah, Shroomish!" the boy exclaimed, and rushed up to the Pokémon to help it. He looked up at Lyra and with tears brimming in his cobalt eyes, he said, "Just go away! I don't have any money to give you!" Lyra bent down and looked straight into his eyes sternly, then smiled and ruffled his hair with her hands. The boy flinched back when she reached her hand out, but froze when she patted his head.

"The only reason I attacked you is because you attacked first, silly," she stated, then reached into her pocket and handed the boy an Oran Berry. "Here. If you give this to Shroomish, it will be feeling better in no time flat!" The boy hesitated and looked between Lyra's smiling face and the berry in her hand back and forth before he quickly snatched the berry from her and inspected it. He slowly broke it in half and fed it to his Shroomish. The Pokémon munched on it and swallowed. In a moment, it opened its beady eyes slowly and the boy smiled and hugged Shroomish.

"Shroomish, you're okay!" he cried happily, then handed the Pokémon the other half. It shook its head and nudged its forehead against the berry, telling the boy to eat the other half himself. "No Shroomish, I want you to eat this. I'll be fine." The Mushroom Pokémon glanced at him, and then munched on it and stood up on its feet. Finally, the boy stood up and looked at Lyra, then quickly looked away at the ground. "T-thank you, miss."

"No problem," she replied, then thought for a moment and looked at Khoury, who smiled at her. "Hey, are you hungry? How about we get you an ice cream cone?" The boy smiled again and nodded in response. So, the group of Lyra with her Marill, Khoury with his Totodile, and the brown-haired boy with his Shroomish all walked up to the stand that was serving the ice cream, which was being run by David.

"Khoury, Lyra!" he greeted with a grin.

"Three soft serves, please!" the brunette told him after waving to him. He glanced down at the boy behind the two of them, but didn't say much as he prepared the cones. Finally, he finished with all three and handed them to each of the kids.

"Thank you, David," Khoury thanked, then the group walked over to the white stage in the middle of the area and sat down along the edge so their feet hung over the side. Below, Marill, Totodile and Shroomish all began to talk amongst themselves, but Lyra noticed Shroomish was always watching herself and Khoury through the corner of its eye.

"How is it?" Lyra asked.

"Delicious!" he exclaimed in between licks. Lyra giggled to herself and took a lick of her own.

"It's made of MooMoo Milk, so of course it's going to be really great, especially on a hot day like today," she told him. There was a small silence as the three licked away at their ice cream cone, and finally, Lyra sighed and turned her head to the boy. "Are you the one who was watching us last night? And the one who hit me with Stun Spore?" The boy flinched and looked up at her for a moment, then looked down to the ground sadly.

"Y-yeah, I am," he admitted quietly. His head jerked up and he looked at Lyra with Growlithe eyes. "But I'm really sorry! I really am! You just suddenly ran up to me! I didn't know what to do!" Lyra laughed out loud and the boy's eyebrows came together in confusion.

"It's fine, really! I totally understand," she told him. "Don't let it bother you, okay?" The boy grinned sheepishly and continued eating his ice cream cone, already getting to the cone part of it. "Take your time! You can have as much as you want; it's on the house." The boy looked up at Lyra as if she was a saint and his mouth opened into a large grin.

"Really?" he exclaimed. "Thanks so much, Miss!"

"Not a problem! By the way, the name's Lyra, not Miss," she introduced, then gestured to Khoury. "And this is Khoury. Over there is Marill and Totodile."

"I'm Jason, and that's Shroomish," he greeted. The Shroomish, however, wasn't as friendly as Jason and glared at the two. The brunette and midnight-green-haired boy chuckled nervously to themselves in response.

"It doesn't seem Shroomish likes us very much," Khoury noted.

"Don't blame him; that's just how Shroomish is. Sorry," Jason replied.

"Is Shroomish your Pokémon?" Lyra asked.

"Not technically, but we've been together for a while," he told her. She was silent for a moment as she watched him finish off his cone. He sighed and looked at his Shroomish sorrowfully. "I guess in order to understand, you have to know my whole story." Lyra put her hand on his arm and gazed at him understandingly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I will. It's been a while since I've talked with a human anyway," he assured, then sighed and started his story. "I was born in Mauville City. As soon as I was, my father left my family because of his gambling addiction. When I was about six, my mother started drinking heavily. She had always drank before, but not as much as she did then.

"Then, one night, I got home from school and we got into a huge argument. I don't even remember what it was about, but I'm pretty sure it was something stupid. Anyways, one thing lead to another, and next thing I knew, she had picked me up and threw me across the room." Lyra gasped and looked on the verge of tears. Khoury looked down at the ground and kicked the dirt with his feet. "I landed on a table and it broke from the impact. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and I ran out of the house, and I didn't stop running. Finally, when I did stop to catch my breath, I realized that I was on Route 110. Since it was starting to get dark, I was pretty scared, especially since my teacher had told us never to go into the wild unless you had an adult or a Pokémon with you. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a Poochyena jumped out of the grass and started to growl at me."

"A Poochyena?" Lyra muttered, and pulled out her Pokédex. After manually searching for the Pokémon, an image of a gray and black puppy-like Pokémon popped up on the screen. **"Poochyena, the Bite Pokémon. Poochyena is the pre-evolved form of Mightyena. Its biting strength is superior to other Pokémon, and has the endurance to chase opponents down until completely exhausted."**

"And that's what it did. I was running through the tall grass as fast as I could, but I was already so tired from running through the city and my back was sore from where I landed on it," Jason told them. "Finally, I just collapsed and accepted my fate to be food. That was when a Shroomish popped out of the grass and jumped in between me and Poochyena. It then used Stun Spore to get it away from me."

"Was the Shroomish that saved you this one?" Khoury asked, and Jason nodded.

"You see, Shroomish was abandoned by his Trainer and released on Route 110, which is very far away from his home. Now he's learned to hate humans, but for some reason, he saved me that day. We've been friends ever since," he explained. "From there, we traveled to here, Slateport City. Because of all the stalls and vendors that are around, we never go hungry, and we found our own private areas throughout the city where we can sleep and bathe, so we're living a happy life, aren't we, Shroomish?"

"Shroom!" it replied, and jumped up onto its friend's lap.

"That's such a sad story," Lyra muttered, wiping away a tear from her eye.

"Lyra!" the three heard, and turned around to see Tohmas yelling at them from his stall. "It's time to start the show!" Lyra nodded and recalled her Marill into its Poké Ball without saying anything.

"A show?" Jason repeated.

"Yeah, you and Shroomish should stick around and watch," she said as she stood up and walked onto the middle of the stage, immediately remembering her lines and sticking on a little microphone onto the shoulder of her overalls. "Hello people of Hoenn! Are you feeling great?" She paused as many people around her started to gather and cheer loudly. Finally, when the cheering started to slow down, she spoke up again. "My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town in Johto! Please, have a look!" She stepped off to the side and gestured her arm towards the large video screen behind her. Suddenly, an image of a Chikorita popped up.

"In Johto, new Trainers have a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil-," As she said Cyndaquil, the picture of Chikorita changed into an image of a Cyndaquil with the flame on its back lit up. "-and Totodile as their first Pokémon-" As before, the image changed to a picture of a Totodile waving to the screen. "-all of which are pretty rare in Hoenn, as I'm sure you're well aware." She looked at the screen and the image changed to show all three of the Johto Starters, with Totodile on the top of the screen, Chikorita to the left, and Cyndaquil to the right. Lyra then reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center and making it larger. "Alright then, Chikorita. Let's go!" She tossed the ball into the air and it opened up in midair, releasing the light green Pokémon.

"Chika!" it cried as it landed on the ground and looked out at the large audience. Lyra could see a couple of Pokémon Trainers pull out their Pokédexes and she waited until she saw the last Trainer put them away before she continued. With her brown eyes, she scanned the crowd until they locked onto Jason, holding his Shroomish on his head.

"Hey, you with the Shroomish on your head!" she called, and pointed at Jason. Immediately, his face turned red and he looked around. "I was wondering how you two would feel about having a battle with this Chikorita. Come up! Now don't be shy!" The crowd began to cheer loudly and encourage the boy to go up. He looked at Khoury nervously, who smiled warmly at him and gestured to the stairs. Finally, he took a deep breath and walked up onto the stage, standing on the opposite side of Lyra. His Shroomish, which he was holding in his arms, jumped down onto the stage in front of him. "And if you win, I've got a fabulous prize to commemorate the occasion for you!" Jason looked up at Lyra suddenly, and she smiled, but his nervous composure would yet to go away.

"Lyra, Shroomish isn't even my Pokémon to begin with! I can't battle with it!" he whispered to her.

"Just try! It won't be as bad as you think," she argued as Tohmas walked onto the stage. He stepped in the middle and raised both of his hands.

"It's the battle between Shroomish and Chikorita!" he announced, then lowered his arms and crossed them. "Begin!"

"Okay Chikorita, start things off with a Tackle attack!" she declared, pointing at Shroomish. Chikorita called out and charged forward, its little legs moving as fast as it could to slam into the Mushroom Pokémon.

"Um... oh, no..." Jason muttered, flinching back at the sight of the Pokémon rushing towards him. However, Shroomish, seeing that it wasn't going to get orders from Jason, responded by dodging to the side, then quickly turning and slamming its head into Chikorita's side when it approached.

"Chika!" the Leaf Pokémon shouted in pain, but flipped around and caught itself.

"Chikorita, fight back with Razor Leaf!" As commanded, the little Pokémon swung its head and a barrage of razor-sharp leaves shot at Shroomish, slicing it in many places. The Pokémon crouched as it was hit by the barrage, but the leaves didn't seem to do much. Suddenly, Jason let out a growl and stomped his foot.

"C'mon Shroomish! We can't let a little Chikorita beat us! Stun Spore!" he called. Shroomish grinned as its friend started commanding it, and it jumped into the air and landed in front of Chikorita. It then bend down a little and released a stream of orange powder from the hole on its head at Chikorita.

"Tackle it!" Lyra countered, and Chikorita lunged forward, slamming into Shroomish's body at full force. Shroomish called out as it fell backwards, and the Stun Spore stopped coming out when it landed on the ground, but the Stun Spore was everywhere. Suddenly, Chikorita started coughing and it closed one of its eyes, looking as if it was having trouble moving. "Oh no!"

"It must have breathed in some of the powder!" Khoury gasped and watched as Shroomish stood up.

"Okay, Shroomish, can you use Headbutt?" Jason asked his friend, to which the Pokémon got up and nodded. "Then do it! Headbutt attack!"

"Shroom!" it cried, then lowered its head and rushed forward, slamming its skull into Chikorita and knocking it to the ground. Chikorita flew through the air, and called out as it did. It then hit the ground and slumped, knocked out from both the paralysis and the attack. Tohmas, who was standing off to the side, stared at Chikorita for a while to see if it would move. However, it did not and he raised his arm at Jason.

"Chikorita is unable to battle! And the victory goes to Shroomish, which makes Jason our big winner!" The crowd of people started cheering loudly as Jason kneeled down and his Pokémon friend rushed up to him and jumped into his arms in a warm embrace. Lyra grinned widely despite her loss and recalled her Chikorita into its Poké Ball. She turned around and saw David walking up to her holding a white square box with a pink bow on one of the corners. She walked to the edge of the stage and accepted the box, then walked up to Jason.

"Congratulations, Jason!" The small boy smiled happily and nodded at Lyra. She then reached her arms out and handed the box to Jason.

"Here!" she told him, and he accepted it nervously. "And our prize goes to our big winner, Jason!" she shouted to the crowd. "Go ahead Jason, open it." The boy grinned and nodded, placing the box on the ground and sliding the white box up. Underneath it was an egg case, and inside was a light blue egg with a yellow line going across the middle. "As you can see, Jason's prize is a fabulous Pokémon Egg!" The audience cheered loudly for Jason, and many people looked extremely jealous, while others looked happy for him. Lyra smiled and looked at Jason, who was staring at the Pokémon Egg in awe. "Of course the question now is just what Pokémon is inside that egg! You'll have to wait and find out!" Jason turned his cobalt eyes up to Lyra and she could see tears brimming at the lower lid. Suddenly, a couple slid down his cheeks and he stood up and rushed into her, folding his arms around her waist. Lyra giggled at his embrace and put her hands on his shoulders.

"Thank you so much, Lyra," he whispered to her as he wiped away his tears with his forearms. "I promise, I won't ever forget what you did for me today. This has been the best day of my life."

* * *

Aww, Lyra did something especially nice for Jason. :) By the way, if you're wondering why Chikorita dropped so easily, I'll explain it in the next chapter, but the reason's pretty obvious. So anyways, that was the first chapter of the Johto Festival arc! One down, a handful to go! If you enjoyed this chapter, then you're going to like the other ones, since they're mostly going to be like this... somewhat. I'll switch it up as much as I can, though, haha. If you were wondering who Jason is, btw, he's a character I created quickly. Will we see him again? Only time will tell. Maybe he'll appear much, much later than you think. *possible foreshadowing* I'll take this opportunity to thank my spectacular reviewers now!

Thanks:

**OMGItsRainingOttsels**

**arkee**

**Eon Penumbra**

**JapanDreamer09**

**Chriss111**

Okay, that's it for this update. Next chapter, the Johto Festival heads to Lilycove City for its next stop? Could a nearby Safari Zone interest our inspiring Pokémon Trainers? Find out next chapter! Alright, well, that's it from me. Thank you for reading/reviewing, and see you next update!


	28. A Capture Here, There, and Everywhere!

_Chapter number two of the Johto Festival arc. This chapter kinds takes a depressing turn at the beginning of the chapter, but it gets better, trust me. XD Also, this is a surprisingly long chapter, so make sure you have some time before you sit down and read this, lol. Anyways, enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury; but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 26**

The next morning, the people of the Johto Festival were packing up the various stands and merchandise even before Lyra woke up. Tohmas was kind enough to let Jason share a room with Lyra in the Pokémon Center, and he let him eat as much supper and breakfast at the Pokémon Center that he wanted. Tohmas always seemed to be in a good mood, but today, he seemed in an exceptionally great mood. Lyra guessed it was because the Johto Festival was such a big hit in Slateport City.

In gratitude, Jason helped the group pack up their supplies. Most, if not all of the crew seemed comfortable with him and letting him help them pack. Strangely, Lyra felt a mother-like bond with him, and he seemed to talk to Lyra the most. Even Shroomish was, well, _sort of_ comfortable with Lyra. She noticed that it would go off and play with Marill and Totodile more than it did when they first met, but it would still keep an eye on Lyra and Khoury. Lyra smiled as David playfully punched Jason and the two giggled to themselves. All the equipment was basically all packed up, with a few minor things needed to be put away, but most of the staff was taking a break for now. Lyra scanned the area and she saw Tohmas standing by himself drinking a glass of MooMoo Milk. Making sure no one was watching her, she walked up to Tohmas.

"Hello," she said nonchalantly, and stood next to the older man.

"Hey Lyra," Tohmas greeted. "How was your first Johto Festival? Did you enjoy it?" She nodded her head so her pigtails bobbed up and down.

"It was loads of fun, and I can't wait to do it again." He smiled, then paused and looked at Jason.

"I know what you did during your battle with him yesterday, y'know," he said, a smirk growing on his face.

"No idea what you mean," she said, trying to hold back a smile of her own.

"You lost on purpose, didn't you? You mentioned something to Chikorita before the battle, didn't you?" Lyra's smile broke through and she giggled to herself, covering her mouth with her hand to hide the fact that she was.

"Maybe I did, or maybe I didn't," she replied sheepishly. Tohmas rolled his eyes but his smile never left.

"Either way, it was really great what you did for him, Lyra," he told her. "A kid like that needs lots of friends, and when that Pokémon Egg hatches, he's going to get a best friend right away." Lyra nodded, and then sighed deeply.

"Tohmas, I need to ask you something," she muttered. "I've been thinking about this for a while, and I really do feel bad for Jason. I don't like the fact that a little boy his age is living on the streets and it isn't even his fault. I know I'm only twelve years old, but I really want to help him more. I was wondering if I could ask him if he wants to come along with us. Then he'd have a roof over his head when he sleeps, and always have a meal, and stuff like that. And even when the Johto Festival is over, he can travel around with me and learn to become a Pokémon Trainer himself." Tohmas was silent for a very long time as he contemplated the situation. Finally, he looked up and looked Lyra directly in the eyes.

"I like how you came right to me with this question, Lyra, and that gave you points. You do make a good point, and I feel sorry for him, too," he replied, then cleared his throat. "If you want to ask him to come along with us, you're more than welcome to. Everyone seems to get along great with him and the same goes with him. I think he'd make a great addition to the Johto Festival team." Lyra gasped happily and grinned widely, then jumped forward and wrapped her arms around Tohmas.

"Oh! Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" she cheered, and then let go of him. "I'll ask him when we're about to leave."

o 0 o

And so, the staff packed the rest of the stuff up into the small plane they rented to carry some of the staff and packages. Finally, Lyra and Khoury walked off to the edge of the cleared street to talk to Jason alone while Tohmas sent out his Flying Pokémon to fly them to their next destination. "Lyra, Khoury... thank you so much for everything. This has pretty much been the best couple of days of my life," Jason told them, holding his Pokémon Egg case in his arms.

"Well, you know Jason, it doesn't have to end. I've talked to Tohmas, and he said that you're more than welcome to come along with us if you want," Lyra explained. Jason gasped and raised his eyebrows in surprise. "And even after the Johto Festival and we return home, you can travel around with me and Marill, and I'll teach you how to become a Pokémon Trainer!" Jason's face showed that he was deep in thought, and he looked at his Shroomish. Finally, after a deep sigh, he revealed his answer.

"As nice as the offer is, I think I'll have to decline..." he muttered.

"Huh?" Lyra replied, dumbfounded.

"Why?" Khoury asked. "Do you like being around us?"

"Of course I do! Like I said, I had so much fun these past couple of days! The food was great, you guys were so nice to me and you even let me spend a night in one of the Pokémon Center's rooms! But, I think I should stay here. I've imposed too much already, and I felt really bad for Lyra and Tohmas spending their money on me."

"Jason, you're not imposing," Lyra said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I _want_ you to come along with us. That's why I _asked_."

"I know... but I still feel as though I should stay here. Hoenn is my home region, and I hope to become a Pokémon Trainer as great as you, Lyra." The brunette nodded, tears forming in her eyes, but a smile planted on her face. "Just remember; this is my decision. Me and Shroomish are really living the life here, and I don't really regret anything. And you can bet when this Pokémon Egg hatches, I'm going to raise it as great as you and Khoury would raise _your_ Pokémon. Then, I'll become a Pokémon Trainer and travel the world, just like you're doing." Lyra wiped her eyes with her sleeves and Khoury cleared his throat and scratched his eyes with his fingers to hide the fact that he was tearing up as well. "I'll never forget you, Lyra and Khoury, and you can bet that one day, we'll meet again."

"And when we do, we should battle. And no holding back, either," she said, putting her hand in front of her. Khoury put his hand on top of hers.

"I'll battle if we ever meet again as well," he added. Jason nodded, and put his smaller hand over the older two's. Finally, he waved good-bye and turned around to walk away. Lyra and Khoury watched as he disappeared behind the buildings.

"Good-bye Jason. Stay safe..." Lyra whispered, and the two turned around as well to walk towards Tohmas's Pidgeot and Tropius.

o 0 o

"Where are we heading next?" Lyra asked Khoury. She held onto her hat as the two flew on Tropius's back once again. The brunette was also glancing down at the ground, while holding onto Khoury as tight as she could so she wouldn't fall. She noted that the Hoenn Region seemed to have a lot of water around it.

"We're going to a place called Lilycove City on the other side of the region," Khoury informed her.

"Lilycove City is a huge city that's almost as big as Goldenrod City in Johto," Tohmas added, flying along side them on Pidgeot. "While it doesn't have a Pokémon Gym, it has a Contest Hall, a Department Store, and a whole bunch of other things. I thought it was a pretty smart idea to open up shop there since it's a perfect place for tourists to visit."

"I'm guessing there's a beach on it, too? We never got to go swimming because we were so busy!" Lyra complained. Khoury and Tohmas chuckled to themselves.

"Probably. There seems to be a lot of beaches in Hoenn," Khoury said. And with that, they continued on.

o 0 o

Because Lilycove City was so far away, it took a couple hours for them to reach it. They didn't know exactly how long it took for them to reach the city, but by the time they landed, both Pidgeot and Tropius were out of breath from the long flight. "You guys did an excellent job! You can take a nice long rest now," Tohmas told them as he put them in their Poké Balls. Lyra looked around and observed the large city, which seemed to be the same size of Goldenrod City, despite Tohmas saying it was smaller. All around the city, there were huge buildings, a lot of them skyscrapers. There were many shops where people were looking in the large windows and look at something most of them could never afford. There were also fliers for Pokémon Contests to be held in the city.

She then examined the area that they would be using for the Johto Festival. It was pretty clear, and the people who were walking around stopped for a moment to try and see what was going on. The small cargo plane had landed much earlier than they had since it was faster than Flying Pokémon, so some of the stalls and merchandise was already starting to get unpacked. Tohmas approached the two and they looked at him as he spoke.

"We still need to unpack the cargo plane and set up for the Festival, so if you guys want to explore the city, you're more than welcome to," Tohmas told them.

"Are you sure? We can help unpack, y'know?" Lyra asked, but the older man put his hand up to protest.

"No, I insist. I'll call you guys on Khoury's PokéGear when we're all set up." Khoury nodded and turned to Lyra.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked. Lyra shrugged and looked at Tohmas.

"Well, what does this place have?" Reaching into his pocket, Tohmas pulled out a rolled out brochure of the city and opened it up.

"Like I said before, there's a Pokémon Contest that's starting in a while, and then there's the Department Store, and a museum. There's also a Safari Zone around here..."

"A Safari Zone?" Lyra repeated, feeling as if she's heard the words before but couldn't remember what it was.

"A Safari Zone is a place where Trainers can go and capture Pokémon. Only they aren't allowed to use their own Pokémon to weaken the Pokémon," Khoury explained.

"You mean we can go and catch a whole bunch of Hoenn Pokémon in one area? Well, what are we waiting for! Let's go!" Lyra shouted, grabbing Khoury's arm and, while holding onto him, walking quickly to get to their destination.

o 0 o

The two walked in silence up what the signs told them was Route 121. The only sound that could be heard was the beeping of Khoury's PokéGear, telling them where to go. Khoury told Lyra that even though they weren't in the Johto region anymore, the PokéGear's self-scanner would be able to know where it was and bring up a detailed map of the place they were at. "We should be arriving at the gates of the Safari Zone soon," Khoury said, looking at his PokéGear closely. Lyra looked ahead and squinted her brown eyes, trying to see farther up. Up ahead was a two story house-like building, and next to it was a large brown gate with the words 'Safari Zone' painted in yellow. She cheered loudly and pointed forward towards the house.

"Khoury! There it is!" she announced. Khoury nodded and put away his PokéGear as they approached the building. It was white with a black roof on it, and multiple painted black boards running up and down it, reminding Lyra of an olden day-style house. In order to get inside, visitors had to walk up the wooden porch and go inside through the front door, so that's what Lyra and Khoury did. The room they walked into was like a lobby. There was a front desk made of wood and multiple chairs leaning against the walls for guests to sit at. There were also multiple pictures hanging up on the wall of various Pokémon, most of which Lyra had never seen before. At the front desk was an older man with gray hair handing a boy about Khoury and Lyra's age a box with the end of a fishing rod sticking out of it. The boy had brown hair that was spiked, though his bangs fell down and grazed the middle of his cheeks as he turned around to look at them with light brown eyes that almost had a hint of green in them. He wore a red jacket with three stripes leading down to the end of the cuff on both sleeves over a plain black t-shirt.

"Oh, hello there," the old man greeted. "Would you two like to enter the Safari Zone?"

"Yes sir!" Lyra exclaimed, jumping forward.

"Though you'll have to explain the rules to us, first. This is our first time entering a Safari Zone," Khoury clarified properly. The man grinned and nodded, showing off his tired wrinkles. He turned around and stuck two buckets the same as the other boy's into a machine and pressed a button. Then, multiple Poké Balls that had a camouflage cap instead of a red one. After the buckets were filled with the differently designed Poké Balls, the older man reached below the counter and pulled out two rods which he put on top of the bucket as well.

"The rules are simple, really. You can only catch Pokémon with these special Poké Balls called Safari Balls. And you can only use this rod that's with your Safari Balls to catch Water-type Pokémon. Also, you cannot call upon your Pokémon to help you capture a Pokémon," the older man explained.

"So, essentially, we can only use what you give us in the bucket?" Khoury simplified. The man nodded at his response.

"Pretty much. Now, let me let you three into the area where you'll be catching the Pokémon," he said, then walked outside, holding the door open for the three kids. Lyra stopped and waited for the other boy, and smiled at him.

"Hi! You entering the Safari Zone too?" she asked him. He glanced at Lyra and gasped as if in fright, then turned his head away and looked away from her with a red blush on his face.

"U-um, y-yeah..." he muttered, looking at her for a moment through the corner of his eyes, then looking away.

"Oh, cool! Let's do the challenge together then!" she suggested, then smiled and gestured to Khoury. "This is my friend Khoury, and I'm Lyra! Nice to meet 'ya!"

"Hello," Khoury greeted, nervously smiling but nonetheless waving.

"I-I'm Stark; hi," the boy told them, not looking at Lyra. The older man finally lead the group to the gate and unlocked the gate with a ring of keys that were attached to his belt. After placing the lock on the key chain, he pushed it open. The wooden gates groaned as they separated, but opened pretty smoothly. Inside was a large open field, and there didn't seem that there were any Pokémon thus far.

"Now remember: you can only use the Safari Balls and rods that I have lent you, that's all," the warden told them. "When you run out of balls or want to leave, just come to the gate and I shall open it for you." And with that, the man grunted and pulled the gate closed, leaving the three kids standing there looking out at the fields in front of them. There were many trees, but a lot of the field was filled with lush green grass that would shine in the sunlight when the wind blew it.

"Um, Stark, have you gone through a Safari Zone before?" Khoury asked him. The boy looked up and nodded.

"Yeah, I have. It really isn't all that hard," he answered, taking out one of the Safari Balls and making it larger in his hand by pressing the silver button in the middle of the orb. "These babies are pretty easy to handle. Basically, just throw the Poké Ball and hope for the best." He paused, then thought for a moment to see if he forgot to explain anything. "Of course, you can't weaken the Pokémon you're trying to catch, so it will be a little more difficult than your average capture."

"Sounds fairly simple," Khoury thought aloud, crossing his arms over his chest.

"We should walk into the field more, though, if we want to find Pokémon," Stark added.

"Well, what are we waiting for, let's go!" Lyra urged, and moved deeper into the Safari Zone. The other two followed her. Soon enough, they couldn't see the gate anymore. This was when they really began to see lots of wild Pokémon. The brunette gasped as a group of Sunkern who were sunbathing in the grass looked at the group with wide brown eyes and disappeared into the bushes behind them. A Gloom was hiding behind a tree but watching them carefully from the side of it. A large herd of Doduo and Dodrio came stomping by, leaving as fast as they came.

"Wow! Look at all the Pokémon here!" Khoury exclaimed, astounded as he stared at a pair of Aipom tossing a berry between themselves.

"A lot of these Pokémon are rare to the Hoenn region, but not in other regions like Kanto and Johto," Stark explained. "There's a possibility I won't capture any Pokémon here." As the group walked through the grass that tickled their knees, a large brown Pokémon with two thorny horns on its head popped out of bushes and glared at them with beady black pupils. The size of the creature surprised Lyra and she jumped back, reaching into her pocket instinctively for a Poké Ball, but remembered she wasn't allowed to use Pokémon.

"Wah! What is that?" Lyra shouted, her heart beating a mile a minute from the surprise.

"Wow! It's a Pinsir!" Khoury exclaimed, taking out his Pokédex. **"Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokémon. This fearsome Pokémon uses its powerful claws to put the squeeze on its opponents."**

"Hey, a Pinsir! It looks amazingly powerful!" Stark grinned, and pulled a Safari Ball out of his basket. "Hey, come get me, you little Caterpie!" The Pokémon flinched back at his name, and then glared at Stark, even angrier than before. "What's the matter, you too scared to come out and fight?"

"H-hey! What are you doing? You're just going to get it angry!" Khoury shouted in fear. However, Stark ignored him and taunted the Pokémon once again.

"You little Torchic! Come and get me!" Finally, the Pinsir had enough of the teasing and it charged forward, lowering its head and letting its horns clash back and forth with each other. Stark grinned and raised his arm. "That's the way! Safari Ball, go!" The camouflage Poké Ball flew through the air and towards Pinsir, but the Pokémon saw it coming and clashed its horns together, catching the Poké Ball perfectly and clamping it in between its horns. Stark's eyebrows raised in surprise as static appeared around the Safari Ball and suddenly, Pinsir shattered the Safari Ball, the fragments of the orb falling to the ground. "Uh, oh..." Stark muttered.

" 'Uh, oh'?" Khoury repeated. "You mean you _didn't_ mean for that to happen?"

"I don't think he would have broken the Poké Ball on purpose, Khoury..." Lyra muttered, putting her hand up to her face and shaking her head in disappointment.

"Don't worry, time for another plan!" the brunet told them, and kneeled down to the ground and gathered up dirt into his hands. The soil was just moist enough to make it form into a ball of dirt, and when it was as round as he could get it, Stark stood up and held the ball in his hand. "Okay, now, keep your eyes on the ball, Pinsir!" Suddenly, he threw it, but to Pinsir's right so the ball sailed right past it. However, Pinsir, thinking it was another ball, sidestepped it and watched it sail and crash into the bushes behind it. "Now, while it's distracted! Go Safari Ball!" Once again, Stark tossed another green and brown Poké Ball forward, but this time the Poké Ball made contact with the Stag Beetle Pokémon. It opened up and Pinsir turned around just in time to get sucked inside. The Poké Ball fell to the ground and started to shake as Pinsir tried to escape, the button flashing red. Finally, it stopped shaking and the ball pinged. As it did, a flurry of rainbow-colored sparkles shot from the button, indicating that it was captured. Stark smirked and gathered up his Safari Ball, looking at it with a smile on his face.

"Wow, so you caught Pinsir?" Lyra asked. "You were great! That was amazing!" Stark once again blushed as Lyra raved over his capture and looked down at the ground.

"I-it... was n-nothing," he stuttered. Khoury stared at him in confusion, but Lyra was oblivious to his sudden change, and turned around with her basket on her arm.

"We should continue on! I can feel a wild Pokémon calling my name!" she declared, marching forward with an arm raised in confidence. The other two had to rush to catch up to her.

o 0 o

About fifteen minutes of walking through a small forest trail later, the group reached another clearing with a large lake off to the side of it. As they were strolling through, keeping their eyes out for Pokémon, Khoury suddenly stopped and gasped excitedly. In the middle of the field about twenty feet away was a lone Pokémon grazing lazily on a patch of grass. It was large and gray, and seemed to have armor made out of stone. Its eyes were closed as it silently enjoyed its snack, and on the end of its nose was a jagged horn that stuck out like a raised thumb. "Woah, that thing is massive!" Lyra commented. "What is that Pokémon, anyway?"

"That's a Rhyhorn," Stark informed her, then realized he was talking to Lyra and gasped silently. Khoury, however, paid no attention and stared at the Pokémon in delight.

"That's a Rhyhorn, all right! And a really powerful and muscular one at that! He seems like he could take down a school bus!" he said excitedly. Lyra raised one of her eyebrows, but smiled. She had never seen Khoury get so excited over a Pokémon before. He quickly took out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. **"Rhyhorn, the Spike Pokémon. Rhyhorn is known for its physical power ****and its considerable offensive and defensive skills."** "I bet that with a tiny bit of training, I could get that thing to evolve into a sturdy Rhydon, or maybe even a vigorous Rhyperior if I wanted to!"

"Khoury... are you saying-"

"Yes! I want to capture this Rhyhorn!" he declared. He then pulled out a Safari Ball and slowly walked up to the tremendous Pokémon. As if it could sense him, Rhyhorn stopped chewing and opened its eyes, only looking at Khoury with its right eye. However, unlike the Rhyhorn in the picture in the Pokédex, this Rhyhorn's eyes were a deep dark blue. "Wow! Such a unique Pokémon; I just have to have it!" As he took another step forward, Rhyhorn turned its head and looked at Khoury with both of its eyes now. As it turned, Khoury looked and saw that the armor around its left eye was broken, leaving a scar going down its eye. However, he paid more attention to Rhyhorn's body language. He knew that if Rhyhorn started pawing at the ground, then he was to run as fast as he could. _Being hit by a Rhyhorn's Take Down attack is like being hit with a tank, so I have to be careful. _However, much to his surprise, Rhyhorn turned its head back around and continued to eat the grass it had started to earlier before it was distracted.

"It's... eating again?" Lyra wondered.

"It seems like it doesn't deem Khoury worth its time," Stark replied, then chuckled to himself. "Khoury, throw the Safari Ball now!"

"Right!" the midnight-green haired boy agreed, nodding his head, then raising his hand and pressing the button on the ball to make it bigger. "Safari Ball, go!" The ball spiraled from his hand and swiftly shot at Rhyhorn, hitting the Pokémon's side and sucking it up. The ball shut and began to rock side to side as it landed on the ground, the button flashing red like before. Not too long after, however, the Poké Ball stopped rocking and flashed red once more before releasing multicolored sparks from its button. "Yeah! My first caught Pokémon! A Rhyhorn!" he cheered, and rushed up to the Safari Ball and clasping it in his hand. "I know you and me will become great partners," he told the orb, then put it away in his pocket.

"Great catch, Khoury! I'm so happy for you!" Lyra exclaimed, running up to him. However, she suddenly paused and stopped in mid-run. "Wait a minute, both you and Stark caught a Pokémon, and I haven't even used any of my Safari Balls! I have to get moving and capture a Pokémon!" she realized, then turned around and rushed off, leaving Khoury and Stark behind.

"She's full of energy," Stark commented, walking up to Khoury but still watching Lyra run into the field.

"Maybe a little too much if you ask me," Khoury muttered back, laughing nervously. "Hey, I noticed something. How come you talk to me just fine, but when you talk to Lyra, you always look down at the ground?" Stark looked at Khoury with his brown eyes, then chuckled nervously to himself and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well, one of my weaknesses is that I have trouble talking to pretty girls," he admitted. "No idea why, but I stutter even if they look at me."

"Oh, makes sense, I guess," Khoury replied, then glanced to where Lyra had gone to see that she was just a little red speck in the distance. "Oh! We better catch up to Lyra and make sure she doesn't hurt herself." Stark nodded in agreement and the two males jogged after the brunette.

o 0 o

The brunette ran as fast as she could while still keeping her brown eyes peeled for any Pokémon that she might come across. Suddenly, she noticed something dash across the path and she skidded to a stop. A yellow and brown Pokémon with two white antennae on its head stopped as well and turned to look at Lyra with large black eyes. The Pokémon had a long neck and it stood on four legs, each of which ended in a brown hoof. At the end of its tail, there was a large round head with yellow and black eyes and a mouth that was filled with razor-sharp teeth. The Pokémon looked at Lyra with a cocked head and it stepped back a couple steps to put some distance in between the two.

"I wonder what Pokémon you are?" Lyra muttered, then took out her Pokédex and scanned the creature with the white and pink mini-computer. **"Girafarig, the Long Neck Pokémon. Girafarig has a second head on its tail that bites those who approach it carelessly."** As she put away the Pokédex, she looked upon it. "Second head...?" Suddenly, the head at the end of the Pokémon's tail moved on its own and blinked at her, causing her to call out in surprise and jump back. The sudden movement frightened Girafarig and it turned around to run away, calling out in surprise. "No, Girafarig!" she shouted, then instinctively grabbed a Safari Ball from the basket hanging off her arm and tossed it through the air. The head on the end of Girafarig's tail glanced at the ball and right away, the yellow and brown Pokémon whipped around and fired a multicolored beam from in between the horns on its head at the ball, stopping it in its tracks in mid-flight.

"Rin, ri!" it called. The sound of footsteps could be heard behind the brunette, and she turned around to see Khoury and Stark approaching. Instantly, they saw Girafarig and stopped.

"Hey, it's a Girafarig!" Khoury announced. "Careful, Lyra! Don't get too close to the second head behind it."

"I've already figured that out, Khour..." Lyra whispered to herself, trying to think of a plan to capture the Pokémon in front of her. Right away, she wished she could use her Marill or Chikorita to battle against it and weaken it, but she wasn't allowed to use her own Pokémon. _I need a distraction or something, otherwise it will just use Psybeam again on the Safari Ball I'll throw._ After thinking up strategies, she started to remember the strategy that Stark used to capture his Pinsir. Girafarig itself looked like it was studying Lyra, trying to see what she was up to and to see if it could run safely without her chasing it. Finally, Lyra dashed to the left, startling Girafarig because of how still she was and she reached down, picking up a small stick.

"What's she gonna do with that?" Stark mumbled, one of his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"Okay stick, do your best!" the brunette shouted, flinging the stick into the air. Girafarig glanced up and watched it spin around in the air, and Lyra smirked as her plan worked. Quick as a Thunderbolt, she pulled out a Safari Ball and tossed it at Girafarig. However, she had failed to notice that Girafarig's second head was still watching her, and with a cry, Girafarig whipped its head back and fired a Psybeam at the Poké Ball, roasting it like before and making it fall to the ground.

"Just goes to show two heads are better than one," Stark commented.

"Now how will Lyra be able to catch Girafarig? She should just give up!" Khoury added.

"No way, Khoury. I'm going to catch this Girafarig even if it costs me all my Safari Balls!" she told him, then glanced down at the two Safari Balls that Girafarig had blasted down. They were covered with dust, but otherwise, they seemed to be in one piece. Suddenly, an idea flashed through Lyra's head, and she smirked as her brown eyes flashed with inspiration. Quickly, she juggled out two Safari Balls from the basket, and after making both of them larger, tossed them at Girafarig. Like before, Girafarig blasted one of them with Psybeam, but then noticed the other one and jumped out of the way. Acting quickly, Lyra dashed to the right once again and rushed up to the Safari Ball on the ground. "Okay, let's go!" she shouted, finally reaching the ball and kicking it at Girafarig with the side of her red shoe. The Safari Ball launched itself at Girafarig, but the brunette didn't stop to see if it would capture it or not. Instead, she dashed to the other Poké Ball.

Girafarig, however, called out in surprise as the green and brown Poké Ball was launched at it, and quickly fired another Psybeam at the Safari Ball as it was inches away from it. The other head on the end of its tail was watching where the other two Safari Balls landed. Before it could release a sigh of relief, both of its head gasped as Lyra reached the first Safari Ball she threw. "Okay Safari Ball, go!" she yelled, kicking it with force. The Poké Ball zoomed straight at Girafarig and it struck its side, opening up and sucking it in. The Poké Ball closed and landed on the ground, and in an instant, made a pinging sound and a flurry of sparkles appeared around it. "Yes! It was hard work, but I finally managed to catch it!" she cried as she rushed forward and grabbed the Safari Ball.

"And quite a spectacular capture that was!" Stark added, his eyebrows raised. "I've only seen people kick Poké Balls in comic books! That was an amazing performance."

"Aw, shucks. It wasn't really a performance, but thanks anyway," Lyra admitted, and laughed. "Though, I did waste a bunch of Safari Balls on just _one_ Pokémon."

"It had two heads; it was going to be tough to catch, especially without any Pokémon," Stark said. Suddenly, Khoury's PokéGear began to ring, and he took out the blue phone-like device and answered it.

"Uh, hello?" he answered.

"Hey Khoury," the voice replied, Tohmas's face appearing on the screen.

"Oh, hey Dad. What's up?"

"We've finished setting up, and we've started already. You and Lyra should get here soon, okay?" Khoury nodded.

"Yeah, okay. We'll leave right now. Bye." After he hung up the PokéGear, he looked at Lyra. "It's all set up. Dad said we should start going now," he informed.

"Oh, fine," she moaned, but nonetheless nodded. "Are you going to stay in and use up your Safari Balls?" she asked Stark.

"Nah, I think I'll head out with you two. I've pretty much caught everything I wanted," he replied, and the group turned around and started walking towards the way they came in.

o 0 o

The group of three walked for a good forty-five minutes until they finally reached the front entrance. As they approached, the wooden gate opened and the warden of the Safari Zone was there waiting. "Finished already?" he asked.

"Yeah, we have to go. But it was still a ton of fun seeing all those brand new Pokémon!" Lyra told him, handing him her basket.

"Thank you very much, sir," Khoury thanked, then quickly handed the taller man his basket. Stark followed suit.

"Now, you all have the option of keeping your Pokémon in the Poké Ball you caught it in, or you can transfer your Pokémon to another Poké Ball of your choosing," the warden told them. The three were silent as they all took out their Safari Balls and looked at them.

"I think I'm going to keep mine in this Poké Ball. Shows a little variety," Stark concluded.

"Me too," Khoury added, and both males put away their Poké Balls.

"Well, I think I need to change mine," Lyra muttered, showing the warden her Safari Ball, which was a bit damaged from the attack it took from Girafarig. He studied it, then smiled.

"Okay, that's no problem at all," he said, then motioned for them to follow him into the main building's lobby. Once they were inside, the old warden went behind the counter and held his hand out for Lyra's Safari Ball. "Now, in order to do a transfer, I'll need one of your Poké Balls. Again, it's your choosing."

"Oh, okay," Lyra replied, and opened up her backpack. After fishing around in it, she pulled out a shrunken red and white Poké Ball and handed it to the man. "Here you go!" He took it with his wrinkled hands and then placed both Poké Balls on a small machine that had two tubes leading inside the machine, as well as a screen in the front. Underneath the screen were two rounded holes. He placed both Poké Balls into the holes and pressed a button in the front. White electricity then shot from the tubes and shot down into the Poké Balls, making them glow white. Finally, the white energy disappeared, then a blackened image of a Girafarig traveled across the screen. When it disappeared, the white energy once again shot down and once again both Poké Balls began to glow white. Finally, the energy disappeared again and the warden took the regular Poké Ball and handed it to Lyra.

"There, your Poké Ball now contains Girafarig," he told her.

"Thank you very much, sir!" she thanked, then the group said their good-byes and left the area. The three continued to walk away from the Safari Zone until it was nothing but a speck in the distance. "Are you heading to Lilycove City too, or you going the other way?" Lyra asked him. Once again, Stark looked down to the ground as they walked and refused to make eye contact with her.

"I came from Fortree City, so I'm heading to Lilycove next. I need to cross the sea in Lilycove to get to Mossdeep. Plus, my Pokémon need a little break," he replied. Suddenly, Lyra stopped and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Okay then, why don't we have a battle?" she suggested.

"A battle?" the brunet repeated.

"W-wait Lyra! We have to get to the Festival; Dad is expecting us!" Khoury reminded.

"Tohmas can wait a little bit longer, right? Plus, this gives us a chance to try out our new Pokémon!" she said excitedly. "Okay, so we'll do a double battle, but me and Khoury only use one Pokémon each. You use two, okay?" Khoury flinched at her remark and looked at her nervously.

"Hey Lyra, why am_ I_ included in this?" he asked.

"Don't you want to see how powerful your Rhyhorn actually is?" she asked in return. "Just try this quick battle. Pleaaaase?" Khoury sighed in response, but complied in the end.

"Okay, sounds like a deal!" Stark said, smiling widely and stepping back to make room. He then pulled out two Poké Balls from his pocket and held one in each hand. One Poké Ball was a regular one, while the other one was the Safari Ball, most likely holding his newly caught Pinsir. "Corphish, Pinsir, let's go!" He tossed the two Poké Balls forward and released his Pinsir, and a red and tan colored crab-like Pokémon.

"Corphish!" it cried, putting its claws up in a ready battle position. Pinsir appeared next to it and snapped its horns open and shut.

"Wow, look at that Corphish!" Khoury exclaimed happily, pulling out his Pokédex and scanning the creature. **"Corphish, the Ruffian Pokémon. Corphish is exceptional in its ability to survive. It adapts to any environment, will drive out its inhabitants, and claim the territory for its own."**

"Sounds vicious," Lyra commented, and held her Poké Ball tightly. "Alright Girafarig, come on out!" The ball burst open in the air and released the yellow and brown giraffe-like Pokémon in a flash of bright light.

"Rin!" it cried, stomping the ground with one of its hoofs.

"Okay Rhyhorn, come on out!" Khoury declared, tossing the Safari Ball onto the battlefield. In a flash of light, the blue-eyed Rhyhorn appeared. It slowly opened its eyes and looked about at its new location.

"Okay, so, if Girafarig and Rhyhorn can't fight anymore, then Stark wins, but if we manage to knock out both your Pinsir and your Corphish, we win, deal?"

"Sure. The odds are on my side, though," Stark said, looking at the field. Khoury nodded, a serious look on his face. He touched his chin and looked onto the battlefield.

"He's right. His Corphish is a Water-type, which can do double damage to my Rhyhorn, which is a Ground and Rock-type. And his Pinsir, which is a Bug-type Pokémon, is strong against your Girafarig, which is part Psychic," Khoury explained.

"Even so, we'll fight our hardest!" Lyra declared, then pulled out her Pokédex and pressed a couple buttons. **"The moves Girafarig is able to use are: Confusion, Stomp, Psybeam, and Double Hit." **Khoury, with his Pokédex still out from scanning Rhyhorn, opened it up and pressed a few buttons on the touch screen. **"The moves Rhyhorn is able to use are: Horn Attack, Rock Blast, Take Down, Fire Fang, and Earthquake."**

"Let's begin this battle!" Stark announced. "Corphish, use Crabhammer on Rhyhorn, and Pinsir, you use X-Scissor on Girafarig!" Right away, his Pokémon charged forward to start their assault. Corphish raised one of its pincers in the air and it started to glow white. Pinsir also raised both of its arms and brought them down across from each other, forming a purple energy in front of it in the shape of an X. It then charged forward towards Girafarig.

"Girafarig, use Confusion and make it turn to Corphish!" Lyra commanded.

"And then when they're in a pile, Rhyhorn, you use Rock Blast!" Khoury ordered. Girafarig's eyes started to glow light blue and suddenly, Pinsir became outlined in light blue. It then turned against its will to the left of it and continued charging, but this time at Corphish.

"That won't happen. Corphish, jump and land in front of Rhyhorn." Obeying its Trainer's orders, Corphish jumped straight into the air and fell forward. Pinsir stopped in its tracks and looked around for a moment, confused at why Girafarig wasn't in front of it.

"Okay Rhyhorn, use Horn Attack on Corphish!" Khoury called, but Rhyhorn just stood there, barely glancing at the Corphish in front of it. "Um, Rhyhorn?"

"Corphish, use Crabhammer!" Stark shouted, and Corphish raised one of its pincers once again and it started to glow white.

"Girafarig, blast Corphish with a Psybeam!" Lyra told her Pokémon. Girafarig called out and fired a multicolored beam of energy from in between its horns at Corphish, stopping it before it could slam Rhyhorn with the attack. "Khoury, what's going on with Rhyhorn?"

"I don't know myself," he muttered back. "Rhyhorn, use Fire Fang on Pinsir!" However, Rhyhorn ignored Khoury and laid on the ground, taking a bite of the small patch of grass in front of it.

"This will work to my advantage," Stark said to himself. "Corphish, attack Girafarig with Guillotine!" Immediately, Corphish jumped back onto the battlefield and started charging towards Girafarig at top speed.

"Stop it with Psybeam, Girafarig!" she countered, the Long Neck Pokémon firing a beam of multicolored energy once again at Corphish.

"Now Pinsir, Revenge!" Stark shouted, and Pinsir seemed to appear out of nowhere, jumping in between Corphish and the Psybeam and getting hit with the attack itself.

"What?" Lyra exclaimed, surprised that he would command his own Pokémon to jump in the way of the attack.

"Lyra, look out!" Khoury called, but it was too late and Pinsir already started to charge at Girafarig. As it reached it, Pinsir lowered its head and then stabbed Girafarig with its horns, sending the Pokémon far back and landing on the ground.

"Girafarig, no!" the brunette cried. Khoury called out in horror as his friend's Pokémon fell to the ground. The Pokémon was knocked out right on the spot, and Lyra rushed up to it and after stroking it and telling it how well it battled, recalled it into its Poké Ball. "Looks like it's up to you, Khour!"

"C'mon Rhyhorn; you have to do something!" he shouted. However, the Spikes Pokémon just turned around and glared at its new Trainer with its scarred eye.

"This battle won't take long since Rhyhorn won't listen to him," Stark muttered. "Corphish, hit it with Crabhammer!" Nodding, the orange crustacean Pokémon charged at Rhyhorn and raised one of its pincers, which started to glow white with energy right away. When it reached, Corphish brought the large pincer down on its head. The impact surprised Rhyhorn and it slammed its bottom jaw into the ground as it was forced down by the Water-type attack. "Direct hit! Great job, Corphish!"

"R-Rhyhorn?" Khoury stuttered, looking to see if Rhyhorn was still conscious from the attack. However, Rhyhorn's ocean blue eyes shot open and it stood back up, its eyes locked on Corphish.

"Still kicking, eh? Okay Pinsir, Brick-" However, Stark's command was cut short as Rhyhorn let out a fierce roar, and it lowered its head down for a moment before making it shoot straight up underneath Corphish, stabbing it with its horn and sending it straight up into the air.

"Um, Horn Attack?" Lyra asked, looking at her partner for confirmation. However, before he could reply, Rhyhorn glared forward and suddenly, three light blue rings appeared and started to spin around its body. Then, the rings started to glow white and separated, forming themselves into glowing white stones that orbited around the Spikes Pokémon. Finally, Rhyhorn let out a roar and the stones were fired forward, blasting and hitting both Pinsir and Corphish repeatedly as the Pokémon raised their arms in front of them to protect their face.

"Now it's Rock Blast!" Khoury shouted. Finally, the attack stopped and Pinsir and Corphish rose once again, looking a little damaged, but still able to fight. Rhyhorn roared once again and stood up on its hind legs. Then, it fell forward and slammed its front legs straight into the ground. When it did, it sent multiple white shockwaves of energy outwards from its body, making the whole area where they were shake back and forth. Lyra screamed and ducked to the ground as the Earthquake rocked the battlefield. Both Pinsir and Corphish rocked back and forth , trying their best to keep their balance. It was especially difficult for Pinsir, who had large horns on its head. Having those rock back and forth was not a good thing to do. Finally, Rhyhorn started charging forward while the earth underneath it was still shaking and crashed into Corphish as hard as it could with a Take Down attack. Corphish was knocked unconscious from the attack before it even hit the ground.

"Corphish!" Stark called worriedly, then recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball. When he looked up, Rhyhorn was now looking at Pinsir and dragging its front foot against the ground. "Now it's gonna go for you, Pinsir, look out!"

"Khoury!" Lyra shouted while still on the ground. Khoury seemed to snap out of a daze and looked down at her, a bead of sweat trickling down the side of his face. "What are you thinking? Recall your Pokémon!" After hesitating a moment, he pulled out Rhyhorn's Safari Ball as it started charging forward.

"Rhyhorn, return!" he ordered, a red laser shooting out from the button and striking Rhyhorn. Immediately, the Pokémon's body was converted into energy and it was sucked back into the ball. Both Pokémon Trainers let out a sigh of relief and looked at Stark, who also looked relieved. The brunet walked up to them and smiled nervously after putting his Pinsir back into its Safari Ball. "Sorry about that, Stark. I guess you win the battle."

"I dunno, I'm pretty sure your Rhyhorn would have wiped the floor with Pinsir, even though it wasn't even acting upon your command," Stark argued.

"I guess we all need to train our Pokémon," Lyra added, standing up and smiling. The two males nodded.

"We should start heading to Lilycove City. Dad is waiting for us," Khoury reminded Lyra.

"Oh, right!" she gasped. "You're going there, too, right? Let's go together!" Stark smiled and accepted the offer, and together the group gathered their backpacks and walked up the path.

o 0 o

After a while, the group made it to the entrance to Lilycove City. However, Stark wanted to go to the Pokémon Center and rest for a while, and the Johto Festival was on the other side of the city. So, the group said their good-byes and headed out to their destination.

Lyra and Khoury made it to the Johto Festival not soon after, and were amazed at how many people there were here. Most of them seemed to be tourists, but the place was really crowded, since Lyra and Khoury had to move people out of the way in order to get to their booth. Tohmas was sitting behind the counter talking to a couple about the Apriblender when he looked at the two and nodded. The two younger Pokémon Trainers walked around behind the booth and waited for Tohmas to finish talking to the couple. "Where'd you two go?" he asked when the two had finally left after purchasing an Apriblender.

"To the Safari Zone!" Lyra announced, pulling out a Poké Ball and showing Tohmas. "I caught a Girafarig!"

"Great job! Khoury, did you catch anything?" the older male asked his son.

"Yeah, I caught a Rhyhorn..." he muttered, looking down at the ground, nervously.

"It doesn't listen to him, though," Lyra added. "We battled someone, and it went on a rampage!" Tohmas was quiet, but smiled nonetheless.

"It's okay, Khour. It happens all the time for Pokémon Trainers. You just have to bond with the Pokémon and sooner or later, it will come around to listening to you," he explained.

"Yeah, I guess," Khoury replied, then released his Totodile. Lyra followed suit and released her Marill.

o 0 o

The Johto Festival ran for the rest of the day. Lyra had asked Khoury's dad about the show, but he told her they'd wait until tomorrow and do it before they packed up. Finally, when the sun had just fell and the sky was dark navy blue, they covered over the merchandise and left for the night. Although Khoury and Lyra kept an eye out for Stark at the Festival, they didn't see a trace of him at all.

o 0 o

"Thank you for coming to the Johto Festival!" Lyra said as she handed over a brown paper bag filled with RageCandyBars and Apricorns to a portly woman with curly brown hair.

"Boy, Dad sure knows how to pick his cities!" Khoury told her as the woman walked away. "We've had so many people visit our stand."

"Your dad must be proud," she replied, and smiled. Suddenly, Marill, who was sitting with Totodile on the counter, got up and walked up to its Trainer. "Hm, what's up, Marill?"

"Oh, I think it's reminding you about the show!" Khoury reminded. Lyra gasped and nodded.

"Oh, right! Thanks Marill!" she thanked, then recalled it into its Poké Ball and walked up onto the stage, hooking up a small microphone to her overalls. "Hello people of Hoenn! Are you feeling great?" She paused as the many people visiting the Festival around her started to gather in front of the stage and cheer loudly. Finally, when the cheering started to calm down, she spoke up again. "My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town in Johto! Please, have a look!" She stepped off to the side and gestured her arm towards the large video screen behind her. Suddenly, an image of a Chikorita popped up.

"In Johto, new Trainers have a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil-," As she said Cyndaquil, the picture of Chikorita changed into an image of a Cyndaquil with the flame on its back lit up. "-and Totodile as their first Pokémon-" As before, the image changed to a picture of a Totodile waving to the screen. "-all of which are pretty rare in Hoenn, as I'm sure you're well aware." She looked at the screen and the image changed to show all three of the Johto Starters, with Totodile on the top of the screen, Chikorita to the left, and Cyndaquil to the right. Lyra then reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center and making it larger. "Alright Chikorita, come on out!" She tossed the ball into the air and it opened up in midair, releasing the light green Pokémon.

"Chika!" it cried energetically as it landed on the ground and looked out at the massive audience. Like in Slateport City, a handful of Trainers each pulled out their multicolored Pokédexes and scanned the brand new Pokémon with them. As Lyra waited, she scanned the audience and her eyes locked with a familiar face with a full head of spiky brown hair. Underneath the hair, Lyra could see a blue headband around his forehead.

"Hey, you with the blue headband underneath the spiky brown hair," Lyra shouted, pointing at Stark directly. Stark looked around for a moment, but then realized that he was the one who was being called out. "I was wondering how you would feel about having a battle with this Chikorita. Come up! Now don't be shy!" The crowd began to cheer loudly and encourage the boy to go up. Slowly, Stark smiled and, after nodding, made his way up to the stage. Lyra walked over to stand on one side of the stage, and Stark stood on the other, looking at the large crowd for a moment with his brown eyes.

"So, why'd you choose me out?" Stark asked, a smirk on his face.

"You beat me in our last battle, and I'm not going to let that happen again," Lyra said quietly enough so that only he could hear, smirking back. Then loudly, she said, "And if you win, I've got a fabulous prize to commemorate the occasion for you!"

"A prize, eh? I guess I _can't _say no," the brunet replied, pulling out a Poké Ball. "But just know I'm not going to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. Now, select your Pokémon," she told him, and Stark threw the Poké Ball he was holding out in front of him.

"Go!" he shouted, and the red and white orb bounced off the stage, opening up in a flash of light. After the light faded, a large light blue dinosaur-like Pokémon with a large tropical flower growing on its back appeared.

"Saur!" it roared in a deep voice, and many people gasped. Khoury, who was right next to the stage, pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. **"Venusaur, the Seed Pokémon. Venusaur uses its large petals to capture sunlight and transform it into energy."**

"Wow that thing is big..." Lyra commented nervously, but then replaced her fear with determination. "Think you can beat it, Chikorita?"

"Chikori!" the Pokémon replied with the same level of determination. Just then, Tohmas walked up onto the stage and raised both of his hands.

"It's the battle between Venusaur and Chikorita!" he announced, then lowered his arms and crossed them. "Begin!"

"Venusaur, let's start this battle strong! Use Giga Drain!" Stark commanded. Venusaur roared loudly and lowered its head. Then, three light green energy beams shot out from underneath the leaves on Venusaur's back and headed straight for Chikorita.

"Chikorita, use Light Screen to protect yourself!" Lyra ordered.

"Chika!" her Pokémon shouted, its eyes immediately starting to glow gold. Right away, a golden box appeared around Chikorita's body and the Giga Drain hit the box. The green beams then wrapped themselves around the box to try and constrict it.

"Now, Razor Leaf quick!" Lyra commanded. Just as the golden box started to fade, Chikorita pulled its head back and swung the leaf on its head, hitting the green beams of energy and making them recede back to Venusaur. "Tackle, let's go!" Now skipping a beat, Chikorita charged forward, going as fast as its little legs could make it go and it jumped, slamming into the large Grass-type and bouncing off. The attack pushed Venusaur back a couple steps, but it shook off the damage and stared at Chikorita.

"Not bad, you actually pushed Venusaur back a couple steps. That Chikorita has spunk," Stark commented. "However, spunk or no spunk, that Chikorita's going down, right Venusaur?"

"Saaaur!" the Pokémon cried back.

"Leaf Storm!" he ordered. Venusaur called out once again and looked up into the air while doing it. Suddenly, the wind started to pick up and a flurry of green leaves were carried onto the stage by the wind and started spinning around the Seed Pokémon's body like a tornado.

"Leaf Storm?" Lyra repeated, watching the move with interest and confusion.

"Lyra, that's a Special Attack that does a lot of damage!" Khoury warned.

"Venusaur, go!" Stark shouted, pointing at Chikorita. Venusaur lowered its head and its red eyes locked on Chikorita. Suddenly, the leaves shot at Chikorita like a horizontal tornado and at a super fast speed.

"Chikorita, Light Screen! Quickly!"

"Chika!" Chikorita replied, its eyes glowing gold once again. Like before, a shining, golden box appeared around Chikorita. The box appeared just in time and the barrage of leaves slammed into the Light Screen with so much force that it even pushed Chikorita back a foot.

"Come on, Chikorita! Fight it! You can do it!" Lyra cheered on as her Pokémon pushed forward to fight against the hurricane of leaves. It grunted and groaned as it pushed forward. Suddenly, it opened its eyes and let out a yell, shattering the Light Screen and stopping the Leaf Storm attack. Stark's eyebrows raised as the fragments of both the Light Screen and Leaf Storm jumped into the air from the explosion and fluttered to the ground with the grace of a snowflake.

"Wow, I don't think I've ever seen someone stop a full-power Leaf Storm..." he muttered. "However, it did break Light Screen, so that means we can use Special Attacks now! Venusaur, SolarBeam!"

"Chikorita, you do the same!" Lyra commanded. The middle of the flower on Venusaur's back started to glow white as it absorbed the sunlight into it, and at the same time, Chikorita raised the leaf on its head and it started to glow gold as _it _absorbed sunlight. It was then a stand-off as the two gathered energy for the beam, and the crowd was dead silent as they watched in anticipation to see who would finish first. Suddenly, the flower on Venusaur's back started to glow white, signaling that it was finished charging. "Oh no!" she gasped as Stark smirked.

"Oh yes! Venusaur, fire!" he commanded, and Venusaur raised its back so the flower was facing towards Chikorita. After calling out loudly, it fired a white beam from the middle of the flower straight at Chikorita. As soon as it fired, however, Chikorita's body flashed gold, signaling that it was finished charging, albeit a little too late.

"Chikorita!" Lyra shrieked, and Chikorita opened its mouth to fire the SolarBeam. Suddenly, a huge explosion of bright light erupted over the battlefield as Venusaur's SolarBeam seemingly connected with Chikorita. The light blinded everyone around, causing them to cover their eyes with their arms or hands. "Chikorita, are you okay?" the brunette heard herself yell, and on the other side, she could hear Venusaur crying out in triumph. However, when the smoke cleared, Chikorita was standing in front of Lyra, looking damaged, but still able to fight.

"What? It's still able to battle?" Stark exclaimed. Lyra thought for a moment in surprise as she went over what happened in her head.

"I know what happened!" Khoury told them from the audience. "Right before Venusaur's SolarBeam made contact with Chikorita, she finished charging her own SolarBeam! Then, she fired the SolarBeam just in time to cushion the attack and made it not so damaging."

"Ha! I knew you could pull through Chikorita!" the brunette cheered. The Leaf Pokémon smiled at its Trainer and nodded. "Now, hit Venusaur with your strongest Tackle attack!"

"Chika!" it grunted, charging forward at the giant Grass-type in front of it.

"Counter it, Venusaur!" Stark told his Pokémon, and it roared as it lowered its head just in time for Chikorita to jump into the air and plow right into Venusaur. Like before, the Pokémon was pushed back, but shot its head upwards, throwing Chikorita back onto Lyra's side of the battlefield. "Now, let's finish this battle up! Venusaur, Frenzy Plant!" Immediately, Venusaur's body became outlined in light green energy and it raised its front two legs into the air. It then smashed them down onto the stage. Suddenly, multiple huge and brown roots with thorns the size of Chikorita itself broke out from the bottom of the stage and waved wildly in the air.

"N-no way! Those things are the size of buildings!" Lyra exclaimed, pulling out her white and pink Pokédex to figure out what attack this was. **"Frenzy Plant. This powerful attack is the strongest Grass-type attack discovered thus far. However, it costs the user a lot of energy."** "Chikorita, look out!" Stark's Venusaur raised its head, then whipped it to motion it to Chikorita, and the thorned vines all came down and struck Chikorita. Finally, when the thorns receded back into the ground, Chikorita was laying down, unable to battle.

"Chikorita is unable to battle! And the victory goes to Venusaur, which makes Stark our big winner!" Tohmas announced, raising his hand to Stark's side. The audience started cheering and clapping at the result of the spectacular battle and Stark laughed as he walked up to Venusaur and patted it on the head, receiving a friendly head nudge from it that almost knocked him to the ground. Lyra smiled as she watched this and recalled Chikorita.

"You battled really hard Chikorita, and I'm really proud of you. You deserve a good rest," she said, hugging the Poké Ball before putting it back into her pocket. She turned around and received the box from David, then walked up to Stark. "Congratulations, Stark!"

"Thank you Lyra," Stark thanked. "You battled well." She nodded in reply, then handed the box forward.

"Here!" she said, and Stark accepted the white box anxiously. "And our prize goes to our big winner, Stark!" she shouted to the crowd. "Go ahead Stark, open it." Lyra didn't have to tell him twice, and he nodded right away. After slipping the white cardboard box up and over the object, he gasped and smiled as he was his prize. Inside the glass case was a Pokémon egg with a teal top and a cream-colored bottom. In the middle and all around the egg itself were four red spots. "As you can see, Stark's prize is a fabulous Pokémon Egg!" The audience cheered and clapped once again as Stark examined his new Pokémon Egg with an obvious delight. "Of course the question now is just what Pokémon is inside that egg. You'll have to wait and see!" Lyra turned towards the audience and smiled. "And on behalf of the Johto Festival committee, we hope you all had a wonderful time, and we'd like to see you in Johto soon!"

* * *

Gah, that was a long chapter! Almost twenty pages... But anyways, I tried to fit everything I could into the chapter. My brain kept yelling at me to make this two separate chapters, but I didn't want to, haha. Anyways, Lyra caught Girafarig, and Khoury caught his first wild Pokémon: a Rhyhorn. But, it doesn't listen to him. Oh jeez, just what everyone needs. A Pokémon that can plow through a school bus and not listen to a word you say. -_- On another note, Stark Wilson is an OC created by** Inhuman X** by my request. Thanks so much, kid! :D I really appreciate it! Reviewers, time to be thanked now! :)

Thank you:

**ScotSniper**

**Eon Penumbra**

**JapanDreamer09**

**Chriss111**

**Inhuman X**

That's pretty much it for this update. Can't really say much else. Next chapter, the Johto Festival heads to Cinnabar Island in the Kanto region, which is well known for its tourists. Who will Lyra and Khoury meet this time? Find out next chapter! Okay, that's it from me! See you next update, and thank you for reading/reviewing!


	29. Rampage on Cinnabar Island!

_Part three of the Johto Festival arc. These chapters are really long, don't you think? I end up thinking I'm not going to write a lot, and it just all comes out, haha. Anyways, enjoy._

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 27**

"I had no idea you were part of the staff here, Lyra!" Stark said, approaching them after the battle. The group was by the stalls and supervising the clean up of the stalls to pack them up for their next destination. Marill was hanging off Lyra's arm, and Totodile was sitting on Khoury's shoulder.

"We both are. Khoury's dad is the founder of the Festival," she explained to him. "We get to travel to all sorts of different places and see a whole bunch of different cities. It is so much fun."

"I bet."

"Where are you from, Stark? Was that Venusaur your first Pokémon?" Khoury asked.

"Yup! I'm from Pallet Town in the Kanto region," he said proudly.

"The Kanto region, huh?" Khoury's dad piped up, turning around to look at them. "What a coincidence. That's our next stop!"

"We're going to the Kanto region?" Lyra exclaimed excitedly, gasping in happiness.

"Interesting. Which city?" Stark inquired.

"We're heading to Cinnabar Island," the older man answered. "Have you been there?"

"Only once a while ago, but there wasn't anything to do there. The Gym was taken down a while ago and now it's just a tourist attraction," the brunet said, sighing. "Anyways, I suppose I should get going. Thanks again Lyra for the Pokémon Egg!"

"It was our pleasure, Stark. Bye!" she said as he turned around and walked away.

"Good luck on your Journey!" Khoury added, waving to him. Stark raised his hand and shot them a thumbs-up before disappearing in the crowd.

o 0 o

A couple hours later, the Festival was all packed up, and the employees were all gathered together at the Lilycove City Blimp station to head out to Cinnabar Island. According to the flight attendant, the blimp would arrive at Cinnabar Island by nightfall, which gave them all day tomorrow to host the festival.

It was a pretty quiet flight. The beautiful orange the sky turned the ocean when the sun was setting was picture perfect, and Lyra stared at it for the longest time, watching as a group of Goldeen, Magikarp, and other Water-type Pokémon would occasionally jump out of the water, the small waves they made making rainbows in the reflection of the sun. "Isn't it cool Marill?" Lyra asked her Water-type Pokémon, but noticed that it had fell asleep in her lap. Lyra smiled to herself, noticing how peaceful her Pokémon looked, and took off her hat and stuck it on Marill's head before lying back and closing her eyes herself.

After about five hours, the group finally arrived at Cinnabar Island. Khoury had to shake Lyra awake, and it took a while for her to realize what was going on, but when she opened her eyes fully, she saw the city below. It almost seemed like a giant carnival or fair, despite it being nighttime. There were tons of booths and souvenir stands that were lit up by multicolored lights. In the distance, there was a tall volcano towards the back of the city, though it looked inactive for the most part. No steam was rising from it. The lights and life of the city instantly woke Lyra up and she giggled to herself in delight at the sight of it all.

"Look at all the lights!" Lyra said aloud to no one in particular.

"Look at all the people..." Khoury replied nervously. Despite him working at the Johto Festival, Khoury got easily nervous in big crowds.

"And I bet a lot of them are tourists! Think of how many visitors the Festival will get tomorrow!"

"More than a lot of them are tourists, Lyra. Cinnabar Island doesn't have a Gym anymore, so hardly any Trainers visit anymore. The ones who visit are either taking a break or uninformed about the lack of a Gym," Tohmas explained as they started to land.

"All I know is I just want my Chikorita to get a long rest in the Pokémon Center. I already know she's exhausted from all the battling," Lyra sighed, pulling out her Chikorita's Poké Ball and looking at it with a hint of worry on her face.

"Unfortunately, we're not going to be staying at a Pokémon Center," David told them, peeking over from the seats behind them. David was in charge of the sleeping arrangements for the group, and called ahead of time to get rooms reserved for them at Pokémon Centers. "The Pokémon Center here was full. Nurse Joy even said that there were guests sleeping in the lobby. I had to make reservations at this little hotel called 'The Big Riddle Inn'."

"A Hotel?" Lyra asked, crunching her eyebrows together.

"Yeah, and don't complain, either. Every hotel on the island was sold out except for that one," David scolded.

"Oh well..." she muttered, putting her Chikorita's Poké Ball away in her backpack. Finally, the blimp landed and the group gathered their belongings together as they headed off. Despite it being nine o' clock at night, there were many people outside the blimp station handing out fliers for their hotels, despite what David already said about them being full. The group finally shoved past multiple groups of people and managed to gather onto the harbor of the island a little ways away from the blimp station.

"We have to stick together, everyone. This is a big place with lots of people. If we get separated, there's a good chance we'll be out here all night," Tohmas told them. He then turned to Lyra. "Lyra, I suggest putting Marill in her Poké Ball, since she has a habit of walking off on her own."

"Good point," Lyra said, grinning sheepishly and returning the Water Pokémon which was attached to her arm.

"Okay, now David, is there anything special about the hotel we're going to just in case one of us gets lost?"

"Well, it's at a pretty high point on the island, and it has a clock tower attached to it which is always lit up. It says on the card 'If you look near the swings, you'll see my hands – or at least my face'," he read, taking out a small business card. His eyes then scanned the night sky, lighting up with various lights from the ongoing commotion. After locking eyes with something, he outstretched his hand and pointed to something shining in the distance. Right on the side of the large volcano that rose out from the mountain like a thumb was a clock tower. The face and hands of the clock were lit up by a spotlight. "That's it."

"Okay, great. Let's head there now and unpack," Tohmas told them. And so they did. The amount of people on one island was astonishing. They literally had to push through the crowds in order to get through. Finally they got through the stampede of tourists and pushed their way into a part of town where there weren't as many people.

"You know, I think I take what I said on the blimp back," Lyra muttered, wiping dust off her sleeve. "I have a feeling that we were the only people in that crowd that actually _had_ Pokémon!"

"It seemed that way to me, too," Khoury added.

"Look on the bright side, guys," Tohmas told them. "We'll get more customers that way. It's mostly the tourists that buy our merchandise." Finally, the Johto Festival employees arrived at the Big Riddle Inn. The owner of the hotel, which was a hippie with long brown hair on his head, a brown mustache and sunglasses, was very kind and made them all dinner for free. He had a strange habit of telling random riddles, though. While Tohmas and the other adults went to go set up for the Johto Festival so it could open first thing in the morning, Khoury and Lyra got to enjoy the hot springs behind the hotel all by themselves. The hot, steamy water seemed to soak through all of Lyra's pores and instantly refresh them. She also let out Marill and Chikorita, to let them relax in the hot springs. She giggled as Marill backstroked across the pool with its eyes closed.

"How is it, Chikorita?" the brunette asked her Pokémon.

"Chikori!" the Leaf Pokémon replied happily. It was standing on the edge of the pool and dipping the large leaf on its head it a couple times.

"I know I've been working you hard lately, Chikorita, and I'm sorry about it," Lyra apologized, grinning nervously. Chikorita smiled and shook its head, telling its Trainer that it was fine. "We'll battle at the Festival tomorrow, and then Khoury said he'd battle someone in the next town we visit. You get to take a little break!" Suddenly, there was a loud yelp from the other side of the wooden fence that separated the hot springs into two sections; one for the boys and one for the girls.

"Totodile, stop biting me!" they heard Khoury yell again, and a couple of splashes of the water. "Ah, ah! Totodile, stop!" The three girls were silent as they heard Totodile and Khoury fighting on the other side of the hot springs, their eyes wide and looking at the fence. Suddenly, Lyra began to giggle lightly, which caused them all to burst out laughing.

o 0 o

"Thanks for browsing! Come again!" Lyra told an elderly couple, handing them a small brown paper bag with a couple Apricorns. After sorting through the money and putting everything away from the recent purchase, Lyra heard a strange noise, but this wasn't the first time that she had heard it. For a while now, she had been hearing strange noises coming from the crowd of people. Sometimes they were grunts, and sometimes they were quick yelps. They seemed to be coming from the same voice, but Lyra had no idea what was going on. Marill seemed to be on edge as well.

"Mehg!" Once again a yelp was sounded from the large crowd of people, but Lyra ignored it.

"Um, Lyra... please tell me you're hearing these noises too..." he muttered and looked at her embarrassingly. The brunette gasped and whipped her head around.

"So I'm not the only one hearing them?" Lyra exclaimed. "I didn't mention it because I thought it was just me!"

"What could it be?" the midnight-green-haired boy asked as his Totodile jumped onto his shoulder.

"I don't really know, but we should look around. Someone could have gotten hurt or something," Lyra suggested. With a nod, the two left the booth to Tohmas and walked around the festival. Marill was latched onto Lyra's arm, and the two were using its extra-sensitive hearing to help them find the person or creature making the noises. The two walked around for about five minutes, pushing past the large crowd of people while at the same time keeping their eyes peeled for anyone injured.

Finally, the group came to a stall where there were hardly any people, as if there was an awful stench surrounding the area. Browsing through the merchandise shown was a dark-skinned girl. On her head was a pair of large purple wings that opened and closed slowly. Suddenly, the girl's head cocked quickly and she let out a small cry. The voice was the same as the one they had been hearing for a while now. Lyra and Khoury looked at each other with confused looks on their faces, but shrugged and walked up to the girl. "Um, excuse me, are you okay?" Lyra asked her. The girl turned around to see who was talking to her and faced Lyra. She was a pretty girl with long dark brown, almost black hair that was tied up into a ponytail that rested on her right shoulder. She wore a small light blue t-shirt with a small pocket over the breast of it. She also wore dark blue three-quarter jeans and black and white tennis shoes.

"I'm just fine," the girl replied, looking at her with saddened honey gold eyes.

"Oh, wow! Look at that Venomoth!" Khoury cried, instantly forgetting the strange noises and pointing to the girl's head. Resting on it was a purple moth-like Pokémon with large blue eyes. Khoury reached into his pocket and scanned the Pokémon with his Pokédex. **"Venomoth, the Poison Moth Pokémon, and the evolved form of Venonat. Tiny scales on its wings disperse various spores when they are flapped."**

"A Venomoth, huh?" Lyra thought aloud, then smiled brightly. "That must mean you're a Pokémon Trainer!"

"Yes! I am!" the girl replied, also excitedly. "Judging from your Marill and your Totodile, I guess it's safe to assume that you two are as well!"

"We are! I'm Lyra," the brunette introduced. "And this is Marill."

"Marill!" her Pokémon greeted.

"Hi, my name's Khoury!"

"Toto!"

"Oh, right, and this is Totodile," Khoury added, smiling nervously as Totodile waved.

"I'm Nina. And this is my best friend Venomoth!" the girl said, looking up at her friend. Venomoth seemed to grin at them and flap its wings happily. "I think you two are the first Trainers I've seen on this island ever since I arrived."

"Same here. We didn't think there were any Pokémon Trainers here at all!" Lyra agreed. Nina smiled uncertainly and tensely giggled to herself.

"I actually came here looking for the Gym that's run by Blaine, but everyone who I run into says that Blaine closed his public Gym a while ago and now has a secret Gym somewhere on the island. I've been here for a couple days trying to find this Gym."

"Oh, so you collect Gym Badges?" Lyra asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I've got four now. I'm hoping to get my fifth one here, but I've just about given up hope," Nina told them, then pulled out a teal rectangular badge case with a forest green Poké Ball symbol on it. When she opened it up, there were four badges in it. In order, there was a teardrop-shaped badge, a sun-shaped badge, a flower-shaped badge with multicolored petals all around it, and a heart-shaped badge. "Are you a Pokémon Trainer too?"

"Yeah, I collect badges, and I have two myself!" Lyra replied, pulling out her badge case and showing Nina hers. "Khoury here is training to be a Pokémon Breeder, too."

"Oh, a Pokémon Breeder!" Nina exclaimed, then jumped forward. "How does my Venomoth look? He just evolved some time ago from a Venonat, and I want to know what type of food to give him to really make the spores on his wings sparkle." Khoury looked up at Venomoth nervously and studied it a little.

"Um, your Venomoth looks just fine to me," he guessed.

"Khoury isn't that experienced as a Pokémon Breeder yet," Lyra admitted, and he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck to show that she was right.

"Oh," Nina muttered, stepping back a step. Suddenly, her head jerked and she let out a small cry, surprising them both.

"So it was you!" Lyra said. "We kept hearing strange noises and thought someone was hurt." Nina was silent for a moment, her thin eyebrows scrunched together. Then, she let out a burst of small laughter.

"No! I'm okay, really! I do it all the time! You meant my twitches, right?" Both Khoury and Lyra nodded slowly, as if embarrassed by the question. "Right. You see, I was born with something called Tourette's syndrome. It makes me say involuntary things and makes me twitch while not telling my body to do so." The two Trainers were silent as they processed in this information, feeling sorry about bringing it up.

"I had no idea such a thing existed!" Lyra finally said. "We're really sorry about all this." But Nina put her hand up and shook her head.

"Really, it's fine. I get reactions like that all the time. They get really bad and loud when I get nervous. Most of the time, however, people tend to think I'm psychotic or something and avoid me, as you saw just a couple minutes ago." Both of them were silent again, so Nina continued. "As you can imagine, I didn't have a happy childhood. But I went out to become a Pokémon Trainer to prove to everyone that anyone can become a powerful Pokémon Trainer, right Venomoth?"

"Venomoth!" the Pokémon replied happily, fluttering off her head and looking at her happily.

"That's a really great dream," Lyra commented.

"Wow!" Khoury exclaimed, surprising both of them, as well as their Pokémon. "You're an inspiration! You keep doing what you're doing, no matter how tough it gets!"

"Thank you Khoury; I've never been called inspirational before," she said, her coffee-colored face turning a tint of red. Lyra was quiet for a moment as she thought, and a smile crept across her face.

"Hey Nina, did you know that me and Khoury are actually staff of the Johto Festival here?" she asked.

"Well, I assumed so, since you're up on the video that is playing over and over again on the monitors," she answered with a smile, looking up at one of the monitors, which had Lyra talking about Ecruteak City. Lyra giggled and nodded.

"There's going to be a show coming on in a little bit on the center stage that I think you should watch," the brunette told her, grinning at Khoury, who smiled back with a nod. He pulled out his PokéGear and looked at the time.

"Actually, it's pretty much time for the show. You should get up there, Lyra," he told her.

"Alrighty then," Lyra thanked, then recalled her Marill into its Poké Ball. The group then separated, with Nina and her Venomoth going with Khoury and Totodile, and Lyra walking by herself onto the stage. She pulled out a small clip-like microphone from her pocket and snapped it onto her overalls as she made her way to the middle of the stage. A lot of the tourists saw Lyra go up on stage and immediately recognized her as the girl from the video, so they started to gather around even before Lyra spoke. "Hello people of Kanto! Are you feeling great?" She paused as more of the many people visiting the Festival around her started to gather in front of the stage and cheer loudly. Finally, when the cheering started to calm down, she spoke up again, pointing to herself. "My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town in Johto! Please, have a look!" She stepped off to the side and gestured her arm towards the large video monitor behind her. Suddenly, an image of a Chikorita popped up.

"In Johto, new Trainers have a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil-," As she said Cyndaquil, the picture of Chikorita changed into an image of a Cyndaquil with the flame on its back lit up. "-and Totodile as their first Pokémon,-" As before, the image changed to a picture of a Totodile waving to the screen. "-all of which are pretty rare in Kanto, as I'm sure you're well aware." She looked at the screen and the image changed to show all three of the Johto Starters, with Totodile on the top of the screen, Chikorita to the left, and Cyndaquil to the right. Lyra then reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center and making it larger. "Chikorita, let's go!" She tossed the ball into the air and it opened up in midair, releasing the light green Pokémon.

"Chika!" it cried excitedly as it landed on the ground and looked out at the massive audience. Like the times before, a handful of Trainers each pulled out their multicolored Pokédexes and scanned the brand new Pokémon with them. Nina pulled out hers, which was forest green, and scanned Chikorita, too. Finally, after every last one of them put their Pokédex away, Lyra looked directly at Nina and pointed to her.

"Hey, you with the Venomoth!" Nina immediately realized that Lyra was talking about her and seemed to straighten up, but her head cocked to the side a bit. "I was wondering how you would feel about having a battle with this Chikorita. Come up! Now don't be shy!" The crowd began to cheer loudly to encourage the girl to go up. After thinking about it for a bit, Nina nodded and walked up onto the stage. Lyra noticed her honey gold eyes repeatedly scanning the audience over and over again. She cocked her head and let out a cry as she stood in her place. Lyra skipped over to her side of the stage and Chikorita stopped in front of Lyra. Venomoth was fluttering behind Nina, looking like it was ready to pounce on anyone who even looked at Nina. It was very on edge. "And if you win, I've got a fabulous prize to commemorate the occasion for you!" Nina nervously smirked and looked at Lyra as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of her face.

"Well, that give us even _more_ reason to win, right?" the girl said, and Venomoth nodded. Instead of choosing Venomoth like Lyra thought she was going to do, however, she pulled out a Poké Ball from her backpack and tossed it into the air. "Mankey, go!" The red and white sphere burst open and from the light, a monkey-like Pokémon with white fur and the nose of a pig appeared on the stage.

"Mankey?" Lyra wondered, and pulled out her Pokédex to get information on the Pokémon. **"Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokémon. Known for its superior footwork, it packs a powerful punch. Although Mankey are usually calm, it does have a bad temper. Once Mankey begins to Thrash, stopping it is impossible."** "Oh jeez, this sounds like a dangerous Pokémon..." Finally, Tohmas walked onto the stage from the back stairs and raised both of his hands.

"It's the battle between Mankey and Chikorita!" he called, then crossed his arms and ducked out of the way. "Begin!"

"Mankey, Rock Smash!"

"Chikorita, Tackle it!" Both Trainers called their commands at the same time, and both Pokémon charged forward toward the opponent. Mankey pulled back one of its fists and it started to glow gold as it charged. Chikorita finally jumped forward to slam into Mankey, but the Fighting-type Pokémon brought its fist forward after seeing the jump. Chikorita saw this and twisted its body, the fist grazing its cheek barely. Both Pokémon stumbled forward and quickly turned around to face each other. "Quick, Razor Leaf, go!" Lyra ordered, and Chikorita swung its head, sending multiple light green spinning leaves from the large leaf on its head at Mankey.

"Fury Swipes!" Nina countered, and Mankey started slashing the air in front of it over and over again just as the Razor Leaf attack reached it. Each slash tore apart the leaves in front of it and made a small pile of broken leaves on the ground. "Let's go with Karate Chop!" After scratching away all the leaves, Mankey jumped forward and jumped high into the air. It then brought one of its arms in front of it and opened its hand. It then chopped Chikorita's head and knocked it to the ground right away. After the assault was finished, it jumped back to its Trainer's side. "Great work, Mankey."

"Chikorita isn't done yet! Razor Leaf now!" In the blink of an eye, Chikorita jumped right back up and whipped its head around, firing multiple razor-sharp leaves straight at Mankey. The Pig Monkey Pokémon had no time to counter them and was slashed repeatedly by the barrage of leaves. "Okay, now use Tackle!" As Mankey was recovering from the attack, Chikorita rushed forward and slammed into it, knocking it back farther to where it was almost as its Trainer's feet.

"C'mon Mankey! I know you can take much more!" Nina encouraged. Shaking its head away of the pain, Mankey stood up and rotated its hands to snap its wrists. "Charge forward and dive in for a Scratch attack!" Following her orders to a point, Mankey dashed towards Chikorita with both arms out.

"As if that'll happen! Chikorita, use Razor Leaf to knock it back!" Lyra commanded.

"Chii... ka!" Chikorita called, waving its head once again and firing a barrage of spinning leaves at Mankey.

"Low Kick!" Nina quickly shouted, then twitched uncontrollably. Mankey understood and ducked down under the Razor Leaf attack and jumped while its leg was outstretched. It then kicked Chikorita's legs out from under it, causing it to fall down onto the stage. "Now launch it into the air with Rock Smash!" The Pig Monkey Pokémon didn't have to be told twice, and quickly snatched Chikorita by the stem of the leaf on its head and held it up as it struggled to escape its grip. It then pulled back one of its fists and it started to glow gold.

"Chikorita!" Lyra gasped. An idea then popped into her head. "PoisonPowder, go!" Chikorita nodded to show it understood and a thick purple powder with sparkles in it were released from the pores on the leave all around it. In a matter of seconds, the mist became a thick fog, but Mankey still struck Chikorita into the air, its Rock Smash attack connecting with its cheek. As the powder dispersed, Mankey was holding its eyes in pain and it was coughing from breathing in the powder.

"Oh, Mankey!" Nina cried, but looked up as Chikorita recovered in mid-air.

"Chikorita, use Tackle attack!" Lyra smirked. With a nod, Chikorita pointed its body at Mankey and shot at it like a torpedo, using the momentum of the fall to boost the attack's power.

"Mankey! Chikorita's going to hit you! Look out!" Nina called. However, Mankey was still rubbing its eyes to get the burning powder out and Chikorita slammed into it, driving it into the floor and causing the stage to crack. As the dust from the cracked stadium cleared, Chikorita was standing triumphantly over Mankey's body. Tohmas walked up onto the stage and looked at Mankey before raising his hand to Lyra's side of the field.

"Mankey is-"

"Wait!" Khoury shouted from the audience, and then pointed at Mankey. "Look at Mankey!" Just as he said, Mankey got up and started stumbling around the battlefield while rubbing its eyes. Suddenly, it stopped and slowly opened its eyes, which were red from it rubbing them, and glared at Chikorita angrily. The look sent shivers down Lyra's back.

"Mankey?" Nina asked. Suddenly, however, Mankey's body started to glow white, receiving multiple gasps from the audience, as well as Lyra and Nina.

"What's happening?" Khoury asked.

"It's evolving!" Lyra and Nina said together. The white form that used to be Mankey started to grow bigger, but its form didn't change all that much. Finally, the white glow faded, and in Mankey's place was a larger version of Mankey with more spiky fur. It still had a pig-like nose and red eyes, but the iris and pupils were smaller and more beady than before. Its arms and legs also grew more muscular and were brown in color. Around the wrists and ankles of the monkey Pokémon were metal shackles. Its fists also grew thumbs and formed into a boxing glove-like shape.

"Primeape!" it cried, and charged forward, tightening its grip on its own fists. Both Lyra and Chikorita gasped as Primeape jumped on it and started repeatedly kicking and punching the little Grass-type Pokémon.

"Chikorita!" Lyra screamed as Primeape continued its relentless Thrash attack. Finally, Chikorita fell unconscious and Primeape was the one standing over its body. However, it was looking down at the ground and breathing heavily. And it still looked incredibly angry. The crowd was dead silent, as well as everyone on the stage to see what Primeape would do next.

"...Primeape?" Nina whispered, edging a step closer towards her newly-evolved Pokémon. Suddenly, the Pig Monkey Pokémon's head shot up and it cried out loudly.

"Priiiimape!" it shouted. Every person in the audience all of a sudden screamed and tried to run away, each person running in a different direction. There were people being trampled, shoved out of the way, and pushed along with the crowd as everyone tried to escape the Pig Monkey. The Fighting-type snorted loudly and, after taking a running start, jumped off the stage and started running straight through. There were even more screams as the tourists tried to move out of Primeape's way so they wouldn't get trampled or attacked.

"Chikorita!" Lyra gasped, shaking her head as if she had just come out of a trance, and running up to her little Pokémon. "Are you okay, Chikorita?" When it didn't reply, Lyra sadly hugged it and pulled it into its Poké Ball. Nina slowly walked up to Lyra on the verge of tears.

"Lyra, I'm so sorry about Chikorita! I just don't know what happened!" she apologized as a tear ran down her cheek. Lyra's face turned sympathetic and she stood up to look at Nina at eye-level.

"It's fine! I've gotten myself into much worse trouble," she said, then suddenly got a serious look on her face. "Our main concern now is to get Primeape before he damages something or someone." Nina nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes with her wrists. Khoury, who had ducked underneath the stage to get away from Primeape, climbed back up and walked up to the two girls. Tohmas also approached them. Lyra reached into her pocket and took out a Poké Ball, which she tossed into the air. "Marill, come on out and give us a hand!" The ball burst open in seconds and Marill was latching onto its Trainer's arm when the light disappeared.

"What's the plan, Lyra?" Khoury asked.

"Okay, here it is, guys. There are two roads where Primeape could have gone. Marill and I will take the north road and Khoury, you and Nina, as well as Totodile and Venomoth will take the south road. Do these roads connect, do you know, Nina?"

"The two roads go straight out to the harbor, only connecting when they reach the harbor itself," she informed after looking at the two roads.

"Excellent. Tohmas, you stay here just in case Primeape gets through and has to turn around. If he gets through one group or the other, you have to take him down yourself," Lyra ordered.

"Of course," the older male replied.

"Fighting-types are weak against Psychic and Flying-type attacks, so be sure to have your Girafarig handy, Lyra," Khoury told her.

"Venomoth is pretty handy with his Psychic-type attacks, too, so we should be good if we run into Primeape," Nina added. As the group started to run down the path, Khoury ran next to Lyra.

"Lyra, every once in a while, watch the skies and have Marill fire a Water Gun straight into the air. I'll do the same thing with Totodile. That way, we'll know exactly where we are."

"Sounds good. Okay, now split up!" The plan went exactly as planned. Lyra and Marill took the north road while Khoury and Nina took the south road. As Lyra ran, she darted her eyes back and forth for any damage that Primeape might have caused while charging through. The streets were empty of people for the first time since Lyra had been on Cinnabar Island. She wasn't sure if it was because Nina's Primeape went through here, or if the rumors had just spread like wildfire. As she looked into the sky, a pillar of water shot into the air nearby and stayed briefly before disappearing. "Marill, aim your Water Gun straight into the air!" Marill nodded and jumped into the air, facing its body upwards. It then fired a stream of water. After Marill stopped releasing water from its mouth and ran beside its Trainer, Totodile fired another stream of water into the air. The cycle repeated until Lyra suddenly stopped in her tracks and gasped, causing Marill to bump into her leg. In front of her was Primeape, still rampaging. From the looks of it, the Pig Monkey Pokémon hit the harbor and ran up the road.

"Priiimeape!" it cried, stopping in its tracks and glaring at Lyra.

"Marill, fire your Water Gun into the air three times. I'll battle Primeape and hold it off until Khoury and Nina get here," Lyra ordered. Marill nodded and looked straight up in the air, firing a Water Gun from its mouth for a short while, stopping, then firing again, stopping once again, firing another Water Gun, then stopped. While this was happening, Lyra pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the button on the center to make it bigger. "Girafarig, it's your turn!"

o 0 o

Khoury and Nina ran along the road, noticing how some of the buildings were destroyed. _Primeape must have been on this path..._ Khoury thought to himself. He noticed how Nina was trying to hide how worried she was, but it wasn't working. Her twitches gave it away.

"There's another one of Marill's Water Guns," she told him, pointing to it as it fired off next to them.

"Totodile!" Khoury said, looking at it on his shoulder. It nodded and fired a stream of spiraling water from its mouth straight into the air.

"That was a really good idea, Khoury; using a Water Gun to signal where Lyra is," Nina complimented.

"Thanks, it was nothing though," he replied, blushing a little. "Has Lyra replied?"

"I'm not sure. Oh, there's a Water Gun! It's kinda far back, though," Nina muttered. "Wait, there's another one. And another one. That was three in a row!"

"I think Lyra ran into Primeape; we have to hurry!" Khoury said, a hint of alarm in his voice.

o 0 o

"Girafarig, Psybeam attack, go!" Lyra commanded, pointing at Primeape.

"Rin!" the Psychic-type replied, and fired a rainbow-colored beam from in between its horns at Primeape. The attack made contact, but Primeape shook out of it and charged forward.

"Use Confusion attack!" Instantly, Girafarig's eyes started to glow light blue and Primeape stopped dead in its tracks. When Girafarig lifted its head into the air, Primeape started to float into the air as well. Girafarig then brought its head down to the ground, causing Primeape to fall to the ground with extreme force. "Awesome, Girafarig. Those Psychic-type attacks should have wore it down." Suddenly, the Pig Monkey Pokémon jumped out of the dust with its arms crossed in front of it. Its forearms were also glowing white. The sudden Cross Chop attack surprised both Lyra and Girafarig and the latter called out as it was forced the the ground by Primeape. The Fighting-type was glaring down at Girafarig with the same look that it gave Chikorita, and it raised one of its arms and opened its hand, aiming directly for Girafarig's neck with a Karate Chop. "Girafarig, no!"

"Maiiiir, riiiil!" Suddenly, Primeape was hit by a blast of water that knocked it off Girafarig's body.

"Thank you, Marill!" Lyra said, releasing a sigh of relief and running up to her injured Pokémon. "Can you still battle?"

"Rin..." Girafarig replied, and slowly stood up. Across the road, Primeape stood up and rushed towards Marill in an angry fit.

"Okay Girafarig, Psybeam!" Lyra ordered, and once again, the Long Neck Pokémon fired a multicolored beam of energy from in between its horns at Primeape, hitting it and stunning it for a moment. "Now, go in and hit it with Double Hit!" Quickly, Girafarig galloped towards Primeape while it was still recovering and both of its front hooves started to glow light purple. It then reared up on its hind legs and struck Primeape with one hoof, then harder with the other, knocking it to the ground. It quickly recovered and stopped for a moment. It seemed like it was considering its options, since its beady red eyes were darting from Girafarig, to Marill, and to Lyra, then back again. Finally, it jumped high into the air. By the time that both Lyra and Girafarig turned their heads up to look at it, Primeape was already coming down on top of it, its arms crossed and glowing once again. The Pokémon had used its speed to increase the power of the attack like Chikorita did earlier and it slammed into Girafarig full force. This time, when the dust cleared, the Long Neck Pokémon was knocked out.

"Prime..." the Pokémon muttered, catching its breath, then glared at Lyra. "Primeape!" it screamed, then charged straight at Lyra herself. The brunette saw that it was coming after her with a killing intent and screamed loudly, crouching her body close to the ground and putting her hands above her head.

"Venomoth, Psychic attack!" Lyra heard, and a dark shadow blocked out the sun. When she opened her eyes again, Primeape was staring down at Lyra, but there was a light blue glow around its body, preventing Primeape from moving. Quickly, Lyra crawled backward to make some space between the two of them and stood up. Behind Primeape was Nina's Venomoth, fluttering in midair and its eyes glowing light blue, concentrating on Primeape. In the distance, Nina and Khoury were rushing towards them.

"Lyra! Are you okay?" Khoury shouted.

"I'm fine! The same can't be said about Girafarig, though," Lyra reported, looking down at her Pokémon sadly.

"Veno! Venomoth!" Nina's Pokémon said urgently, its head rocking back and forth.

"What's going on?" Lyra asked, recalling her Girafarig into its Poké Ball.

"Venomoth just evolved, and its Psychic attack hasn't been properly completed yet. Primeape's going to break free of Psychic!" Nina told them. As if on cue, the light blue outline on Primeape shattered, and Primeape sprang into action right away, striking Venomoth with a powerful Rock Smash attack. The Pokémon fell back and landed on the ground with the intensity of the attack. Primeape then stepped forward and raised one of its arms.

"It's going to use Brick Break!" Khoury shouted.

"Get out of the way, Venomoth!" Nina cried. Suddenly, Khoury's Totodile charged forward and fired a Water Gun at Primeape. There wasn't power behind it, however, so it just got the Pokémon's fur wet to annoy it.

"Toto!" Khoury's Pokémon said, sticking its chest out and flexing its arms downwards.

"Totodile... you want to fight?" Khoury asked it, and it replied with a nod. "But you'll get wiped clean!"

"Khoury, sometimes you have to go along with what your Pokémon is feeling, even if you don't like it," Nina enlightened.

"You can do it, Totodile!" Lyra cheered. Khoury was quiet, but he didn't have enough time to make a decision before Primeape charged at Totodile. It pulled back one of its fists and it started to glow gold.

"Totodile, Bite attack!" he reacted quickly, and Totodile opened its mouth, latching onto Primeape's fist in just the right time. Primeape called out and started waving its arm back and forth to try and release it from its fist. Finally, Primeape had enough and raised the other arm to Karate Chop Totodile off. "Now, use Aqua Tail!" A small spinning spiral of water erupted from the base of Totodile's tail and spun off it. Totodile then whipped its body around and hit Primeape with it, knocking it back. "Okay, now try a Superpower attack!" Khoury ordered. As Totodile landed on the ground, its body became surrounded in a light blue aura and it reached down to the ground. It then picked up a huge spherical chunk of land with one hand and tossed it at Primeape. The Fighting-type Pokémon stood up and pulled back its fist, using Rock Smash to break through the rock. When the rock shattered to pieces, it charged forward, ready to strike Totodile.

"Primeape, stop!" Nina yelled suddenly, causing the Pokémon to stop. "Why are you acting this way? I know you were always the tough guy on my team, but you always listened to me because I captured you! Why are you destroying and attacking everything?" Primeape stopped and stared at Nina, breathing heavily from its non-stop attacking. It let out a few angry puffs, then started to charge forward straight at Nina.

"Totodile, Water Gun, full power!" Khoury commanded. In a blink of an eye, Totodile opened its mouth and released a powerful blast of water from its mouth at Primeape, making it stop in its tracks.

"Venomoth, use Zen Headbutt!" Nina ordered, a few tears falling from her eyes. Venomoth, who had recovered from Primeape's assault on it, dove down at Primeape and the top of its head started to glow light blue. A reflective blue energy shield then appeared around Venomoth's head and it slammed into Primeape as hard as it could. The attack knocked the wind out of Primeape and it rolled across the ground, knocked out.

o 0 o

"I'm really sorry about causing a huge ruckus today. I feel so bad about it," Nina apologized, bowing repeatedly to Tohmas, Lyra and Khoury.

"You don't have to apologize, really!" Tohmas assured. "Everything can be fixed just as easily as it was broken."

"Though the show didn't end how we wanted it to..." Khoury muttered, receiving a swift strike from Lyra in the arm. "Ow!"

"What Khoury means is, you battled really well while you still had control over your Pokémon. And we never gave you your prize!" Lyra told her.

"After the damage and commotion I caused, I don't deserve a prize at all," Nina argued, putting her hands up in protest.

"The deal was if you knocked out my Chikorita, you would get the prize," the brunette said, reaching behind the stall and picking up a white box. "You won, which means that you got the prize. Here!" Nina opened her mouth to protest, but knew she couldn't win and decided to give up. She finally took the box and opened it up. When she saw what it was, she gasped with excitement and happiness. Inside was a glass case, and inside that was a light blue Pokémon Egg with a yellow stripe going across the middle of it.

"A Pokémon Egg!" she exclaimed happily.

"Congratulations," Lyra said, smiling from ear to ear.

"Thanks so much, everyone, really!" she thanked, bowing once again, this time in gratitude. The three laughed to themselves, and Lyra looked around the Festival.

"Well, this place is dead as a doornail," she commented bluntly.

" 'The Primeape Rampage' is all around the island. No one wants to come here because of a wild Pokémon attack," Tohmas sighed. "Well, I suppose we should pack up early and get a head start on our next destination."

"Oh! Where are we going now, Dad?" Khoury asked.

"To the Sinnoh region! We're going to Jubilife City," the older man replied.

"Jubilife, eh?" Lyra mumbled to herself. "Sounds like an interesting place." And so, the group quickly packed their things into the truck and onto the blimp, and after saying good-bye to Nina, the blimp took off; their next stop: the Sinnoh region."

* * *

Again, I thought this chapter was only going to turn out being 5 pages long. Boy was I off. By ten. 0-0 Anyways, I'm really sorry about what happened last week. It was just not a good week to be writing. And I've been really lacking in the time department these days. I'll try not to do it again. It really killed me to delay the chapter. Bleh.

Moving on, the OC in this chapter was my own, Nina Mar. Only one stop in the Kanto region, too. I'm hoping this arc just passes by soon, lol. Well, there's not much else to do but to thank the reviewers now.

Thank you:

**Inhuman X**

**Eon Penumbra**

**JapanDreamer09**

Okay, well, that's it from this update. Next chapter, we're going to see how Silver is doing and how he's doing without Lyra. He also meets a very unique person to keep him company as well. Well, that's it from me. Thanks for reading/reviewing guys. See you next chapter!


	30. Bonus Chapter 3: I Love Lucy

_Please note that this chapter is not part of the story, but a 'Bonus Chapter', a chapter that is not part of Lyra's Journey though the Johto Festival. Look at these as a 'Pokemon Chronicles' for the series. This chapter takes place between Chapters 22-25. Next chapter will continue with the main story, but for now, enjoy._

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Silver and Lyra, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Bonus Chapter 3**

Silver glanced up, smirking as he read the sign that lead into the city. " 'Goldenrod City – A Big Happening City', " he read aloud. For a couple days he camped out in the Ilex Forest, continuously training his Pokémon until he knew that they could overpower any Trainer that stumbled upon his path... including _her_.

As he started walking up the path and through the busy streets of Goldenrod City, he began to think of her not-so-recent win over him. Despite her just coming out of the Gym, she still managed to defeat him. With weak Pokémon, nonetheless. He looked down at his clenched fists and noticed they were shaking with anger, so he took a deep breath to relax himself. Because of his stay in the Ilex Forest, his Pokémon were exceptionally stronger than they had been, and he worked on each and every one of them with a firm hand. If he were to run into the girl here, she would most definitely lost if they battled. Especially the way that she chooses to _care_ for her Pokémon.

He heard laughter behind him, and paid no attention to it until he felt a small figure bump into him with enough force to make him fall forward, but not enough to push him over onto the ground. The child, however, fell onto his rear on the sidewalk.

"Ow..." the small boy muttered, rubbing his behind. A small Rattata ran up and looked at the boy with worry.

"Watch where you're going, kid. You never know who you'll run into in the city," Silver said coldly, glaring down at the little boy with his piercing red eyes. The child looked up at him with wide eyes and slowly nodded his head, backing away from Silver a few inches while still on the ground. He suddenly jumped up and started running back the way he came. Silver watched the boy run for a while until he turned the corner and was out of sight in the large flood of buildings and people.

What he said to the child reverberated back to him, and as he started to walk again, his thoughts went back to the girl with the puffy hat, remembering what she had said. "_Oh, you don't have to worry about Team Rocket. I teamed up with Koga of the Elite Four and took them down."_ he remembered her say, a proud smile etched on her face.

_And her eyes showed that she was telling the truth,_ he thought, then scowled to himself, but a baby in her mother's arms saw this and started to cry. _My suspicions were right. There _is_ a Team Rocket branch here in the Johto Region._

Finally, after making his way through the city, he reached the large Pokémon Center. The redhead studied the tall building for a moment before walking in through the front doors. At the front desk, a Nurse Joy with a green cross on the white nurse's cap on top of her head was tending to a little boy. "Your Rattata is in tip-top shape. Just don't forget to give him the vitamins I gave to you so his teeth get nice and strong."

"Okay. Thank you Nurse Joy!" the child replied, and walked away, talking to the purple rat-like Pokémon in his arms and not even glancing at Silver as the two passed by. Nurse Joy, however, saw Silver approach the front desk and put on a happy smile.

"Welcome to the Goldenrod City Pokémon Center," she greeted. Without saying anything, Silver pulled out four Poké Balls and placed them on the counter.

"I'd like for these four to be healed," he simply stated.

"Of course. That will be just fine. In the meantime, feel free to make yourself at home while you wait," Nurse Joy replied, to which Silver nodded. While the main lobby and waiting room of the Pokémon Center had a couple Pokémon Trainers talking amongst themselves, Silver decided to head to the cafeteria and order some food while he waited. His diet of mixed berries from the forest for four days straight did not satisfy his hunger at all. As he walked, he kept his eyes opened for the brunette girl that seemed to be following him.

_Usually by now I run into her,_ he thought to himself, but then shook it off. _Then again, it isn't like it's a bad thing._

o 0 o

Silver took one last bite of his plate of steak tips before drinking down the last sip of his Pepsi that he ordered for lunch. It had been quite some time since he had been this full, but the food wasn't exactly the best he ever had.

As he sat back and waited for Nurse Joy's Chansey to bring him the receipt, the redheaded boy pulled out the small silver bell from his pocket and started playing with it in his hands while examining it. He had done this many times since his encounter with Celebi a week before, but he still had no idea what it was. His initial thought was that it was a Soothe Bell, a held item that causes the Pokémon who holds it to become better friends with its Trainer. However, there were two things that stuck out in his mind. The first was, no matter how hard he shook the bell, it made no sound at all. Soothe Bells make a sound that is soothing and calming, which causes a Pokémon to grow more attached to the Trainer.

One other thing that stuck out in Silver's mind was the fact that Celebi made Silver go back in time just to acquire this item. _Why would Celebi just make me go back in time for a Soothe Bell when there are millions of them out in the world?_ he thought to himself. He sighed heavily and put the silver bell away as the Chansey with the same green-crossed cap as Nurse Joy approached his table.

"Chansey!" it said happily, and placed a small sheet of paper on the table. After Silver produced the money and placed it down without a sound, Chansey gathered up the dishes and continued on its way. As he stood up to leave, the Pokémon Center ring tone played over the intercom.

"Trainer Silver, your Pokémon are all ready for you to pick them up," Nurse Joy said over the speakers. Recognizing his name, Silver exited the cafeteria and walked up to the main lobby. After waiting in line while a couple Trainers handed their Poké Balls to Nurse Joy, Silver approached the desk. "Here you go, Silver. Your Pokémon are raring and ready to go."

"Thank you," he muttered, pocketing the Poké Balls.

"But, I just wanted you to know I detected a high level of stress in all of your Pokémon. Try to make sure that you're not overworking-"

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind, Nurse Joy," Silver rudely said, and turned around and walked away as Nurse Joy flinched back in surprise. Fiddling around in his jacket pocket, he could feel the two badges he had earned at the other two Gyms, and he could feel a small excitement building in the pit of his stomach. He knew that his next Gym battle was only fifteen minutes away, and he was ready to add another badge to his collection.

His mind was set on his Gym Battle, and as he walked out the door, he suddenly collided with someone coming into the Pokémon Center at the same time of him leaving. Both Trainers bounced off each other and sprawled to the ground.

"Ow! That hurt!" the other Trainer complained; a female voice.

"Are you two okay?" Nurse Joy asked, coming around the counter and running up to them. She tried to help up Silver, but he refused, so she went and helped the other Trainer. The girl, who wore a robin's egg blue sundress that went down to her knees, thanked Nurse Joy with a bow and fixed her white knee-high stockings underneath a pair of dusty moccasins. Silver dusted the seat of his pants off of any dust from the filthy Pokémon Center floor, unconcerned with the other person.

"Well?" the girl asked in annoyance, fixing her dirty blonde hair, which was cut in a pageboy style and shoulder length. Silver looked up and fixated his piercing glare at her.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to apologize?" Silver raised an eyebrow at this.

"Apologize for what?"

"For walking into me! Are you dense?"

"Why would I apologize? If you were paying attention, you wouldn't have walked into me as well," he argued, continuing to wipe dust and dirt off his shirt. The girl scowled, and Silver noticed that one of her eyes was forest green and the other was sky blue. She then kneeled down and picked up a pair of white headphones off the ground and looked over them. Suddenly, she gasped.

"Oh, and look what _else_ you did!" she yelled in frustration, pointing to the left earpiece. On the red flower styled into the white, there was a small crack along the rim.

"Calm down; the plastic is just broken. I'm sure it works fine," Silver muttered, a hint of annoyance in his voice as well. He just wanted to get to his Gym Battle.

"I don't care! You did this! If you weren't here, then my headphones would be in one piece!" she called, then pointed to him. "I want a battle! If you think you're so tough, try and take on my Pokémon!" At first, Silver was going to refuse, but he then smirked after thinking for a minute.

"Fine. My Pokémon need a warm-up before my match at the Goldenrod Gym anyways," Silver accepted.

"_Warm-up?_ Oh, now I'm definitely not going easy on you," she cried. And with that, the two made their way through the Pokémon Center and heading out the back door, walking into the outside area where there were two battlefields prepared for Trainers who met in the Center to battle. Silver and the girl took the right stage and she walked farther up, stopping at the Trainer's box on the other side. "The name is Lucy Cipher from Olivine City. I'm a wandering Pokémon Trainer. How about you?"

"Silver. I'm a Trainer," he replied bluntly.

"Okay Silver, let's begin! I choose you, Cora-Cora!" she shouted, pulling out a Lure Ball and tossing it onto the battlefield. As the ball opened up, the flash of light that emerged formed into a pink and white Pokémon with multiple pink horns on its head.

"Corsola!" it said excitedly, and jumped into the air a couple times. A small Shell Bell tied around one of its horns bounced up and down with it.

_Ah, I remember this Pokémon. Professor Elm used one of these when I broke into his lab_, he thought, pulling out a Poké Ball and tossing it into the air. It burst open in a flash of light and formed into his Croconaw.

"Croco, naw!" it cried, glaring at the opponent's Corsola.

"So, who wants to make the first-"

"Croconaw, Ice Fang!" Silver ordered. Immediately responding, Croconaw opened its mouth and two of its fangs started to glow light blue. Then, two jagged light blue beams shot out from Croconaw's mouth and stabbed Corsola, knocking it backwards. Lucy had no time to block the attack since Silver gave the command so fast and without warning. A couple chunks of ice formed over Cora's horns, but the Pokémon shook them away.

"That was a speedy and sneaky approach, but it isn't going to happen again!" Lucy told him. "Cora-Cora, use BubbleBeam!" The pink Pokémon nodded and opened its mouth, a light blue orb of energy forming inside it. It then fired multiple light blue bubbles from the orb straight at Silver's Croconaw. Silver just sat there and did nothing as the orbs made contact with Croconaw and hit it each time. "Now, use Aqua Ring to heal yourself!" Cora-Cora nodded and jumped high into the air. Suddenly, multiple water droplets formed around its body, and they all combined together, forming into three rings of crystal clear water that surrounded Corsola's body. Silver, however, said nothing.

"Bite attack, go!" he stated, and Croconaw started to charge forward towards Lucy's Corsola.

"That's exactly what I wanted you to do! Cora, Rock Blast!" the blonde commanded. Three light blue rings then formed around Cora-Cora's body and suddenly began to glow white. Then, the rings separated and formed into little jagged glowing white rocks.

"Corso... la!" the Pokémon cried, and the multiple rocks fired straight at Croconaw. Silver didn't have any time to counter the attack and the rocks hit his Pokémon square on, knocking it to the ground.

"That puny attack should not have knocked you down, Croconaw. Get up!" he told it.

"Actually, that's quite normal for Cora-Cora's Rock Blast," Lucy corrected. "You see, Cora-Cora's Ability is Hustle, which lowers her Accuracy for Attack power." Silver glared at her for a moment as Croconaw got up, but shrugged.

"Whatever. Croconaw, use Ice Fang again." Like before, two jagged light blue beams shot across at Corsola, stabbing it on the top of the head and knocking it over.

"Cora-Cora! Are you alright?" Lucy called worriedly to her Pokémon.

"Water Gun," Silver said, not skipping a beat. Croconaw, like its Trainer, responded right away and fired a stream of water from its mouth, hitting Corsola and soaking it. "Your Corsola is weak. The creature can't even fight back against my Croconaw. I almost feel sorry for it."

"Oh, Cora-Cora will fight back, all right. Use Brine, Cora-Cora!" Lucy countered. The Coral Pokémon got up right away and faced towards its Trainer. It then shot out a stream of water from its mouth, propelling it through the air at a high speed, surprising Silver and Croconaw. The Corsola circled in the air for a moment before it crashed right into Croconaw, knocking the Big Jaw Pokémon onto its back. As Cora-Cora landed on the ground, it jumped right back over to its side of the battlefield. Silver noticed then that the white shell around its horn made a sound and vibrated, glowing white briefly. A small ring of energy then came out of the bell and expanded around Corsola's body. Suddenly, some of the scratches on its body then disappeared.

"A Shell Bell..." Silver muttered.

"That's right. Every time Cora-Cora inflicts damage on you, she gains some of her energy back. It happened last time too, but you were too busy criticizing your Croconaw to notice," Lucy explained. As she told Silver this, three rings of water formed around Corsola's body like before and then melted into it, causing even more scratches to disappear. Silver was quiet for a moment and studied Cora-Cora as Croconaw stood up.

"You've made it so Corsola can get damaged so it can use Brine, but then it gets healed afterwards..." he mumbled.

"That's right! And now Cora, use Tackle attack!" Cora-Cora nodded and charged forward at top speed straight at Croconaw.

"Scary Face," Silver ordered, and Croconaw stepped forward, glaring at Cora-Cora and making a horrifying face, snarling at its opponent. Upon seeing the face, Corsola stopped right in its tracks, shivering violently from its fear. "Blast it with Water Gun now." Taking a deep breath, Croconaw jumped back and fired a powerful stream of water from its powerful jaw, taking Corsola in the current and knocking it back. When the water stopped, Corsola was on the ground.

"Cora-Cora, Recover!" its Trainer called. Suddenly, Corsola's body became surrounded in a rainbow-colored aura for a few moments. When the light disappeared, the Pokémon stood up and jumped up energetically, ready to fight once again.

"You don't know how to stay down, do you?" Silver asked.

"Cora-Cora doesn't know the meaning of the word 'lose'!" Lucy cheered, and her Pokémon jumped up in response. "Use Rock Blast!" Once again, three light blue rings of energy appeared around Cora-Cora's body and it jumped into the air. The light blue rings then started to glow white and separated into smaller chunks. Then they fired straight at Croconaw.

"Block them with Water Gun!" Silver commanded, and his Pokémon released a blast of water from its mouth at the white chunks of rocks flying straight towards it. The two attacks collided, but the Water Gun absorbed them and kept going, blasting Corsola with both the Water Gun and the rocks inside it. "Charge forward and Bite it!"

"Croconaaaaw!" the Pokémon roared, then dashed forward as Corsola was knocked backwards from the Water Gun.

"Cora-Cora! Look out for Croconaw!" Lucy gasped, but as the Pokémon looked up, Croconaw had reached it and clamped its powerful jaws down on one of its horns. Corsola cried out in pain as Croconaw whipped it around back and forth a couple times before slamming it back down on the ground and letting go. When the dust from the cracked battlefield cleared, Corsola was knocked out. Lucy gasped once again, and sighed, pulling out her Lure Ball and recalling her Pokémon into it. "You did wonderful, Cora. You deserve a nice rest." She put her Poké Ball away in her pocket and looked up at Silver. He said nothing as Croconaw returned to his side of the field. "You took out my Cora pretty quickly, Silver. I'm impressed."

"Can we just move on? I have a Gym Battle I'd like to get to," he replied coldly, crossing his arms over his chest. Lucy scoffed and retrieved a blue, red and white Poké Ball from her pocket.

"You're very rude; do you know that?" she asked, pressing the button in the middle of the Great Ball in her hand to make it expand to the size of a softball. "Take 'em down, Matador!" She tossed the Poké Ball onto the battlefield and it opened in midair, releasing from a bright flash of light a brown bull-like Pokémon with pointy silver horns on its head. Three thin black tails whipped around behind it, and it released a loud moo. At the sight of the Pokémon, Silver smirked.

"A Tauros, huh?" he asked himself. "I've always wanted to fight one of these powerful Pokémon. This should be interesting." Lucy's Tauros mooed loudly once again and glared down at Croconaw, locking eyes with it. The death glare didn't seem to do anything at first, but Croconaw stepped back a step, and that was all Matador needed.

"Go Matador, use Horn Attack now!" the dirty blonde commanded. In the blink of an eye, the brown bull-like Pokémon charged forward, the ground shaking each time its hooves crashed onto the battlefield.

"Water Gun to counter," Silver instructed, his facial expression not changed in the least bit at the sight of the charging bull. Croconaw opened its mouth and breathed deeply to pull in a deep breath, but the Tauros had reached it before it could release the blast of water. It lowered its head and stabbed the Big Jaw Pokémon with its horns, knocking it backwards. It was then that Croconaw released the Water Gun attack, but the attack shot into the air and sprinkled harmlessly over the battlefield. "Don't just lay there, Croconaw. Get up, lazy ass."

"We should help him up, right Matador?" Lucy taunted. "Horn Attack!" Tauros let out a loud moan and lowered its head, digging its horns into the ground underneath Croconaw. Finally, it pulled its head up at lightning speed, flinging Silver's Pokémon into the air. The Pokémon called out in horror as it was violently tossed.

"Croconaw, Water Gun it!" Silver shouted. As it started to fall, the light blue crocodile-like Pokémon took in a deep breath and fired a spiral of water from its powerful jaws at Tauros. The Pokémon was hit by the spinning stream, but it shook it off easily.

"Tackle attack as it hits the ground, Matador!" Lucy commanded, a smirk growing on her face. Snorting loudly, Tauros charged forward with its head down and connected with Croconaw's stomach as it was about to land on the ground. The Pokémon's eyes widened as all the air was knocked out of it and it flew backwards. When it crashed and rolled on the ground, Croconaw was unconscious and thus, unable to battle. Silver's eyebrows were raised in surprise and his mouth was opened slightly at the barrage of attacks.

"That Tauros is extremely powerful..." he commented, then pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled Croconaw.

"Confused? Look closely at Matador's left leg!" Lucy taunted with an innocent smile. When Silver looked, he noticed a yellow bandana-like band tied around the Tauros's leg. There were two red angry-looking eye-like marks on them as well. "That's a Muscle Band. It gives my Matador's attack powers a little boost. _That's_ why his moves like Horn Attack and Tackle are increased." Silver rolled his eyes in annoyance and pulled out another Poké Ball.

"Okay then. Well, since your Tauros is a Normal-type, I'll choose my Ghost-type. Gastly!" Silver threw the Poké Ball out onto the arena and it burst open, revealing the black orb-like Pokémon with wide eyes and purple smog puffing out around it.

"Gaastly..." it moaned, then smiled widely.

"Confuse Ray!" Silver ordered, and immediately, Gastly's eyes started to glow red, floating forward to peer deeply into Matador's.

"Matador, use Horn Attack!" Lucy commanded, pointing forward. Matador growled loudly and charged forward with its head down and horns pointed. Silver scoffed and smirked to himself.

"Moron. Normal-type attacks don't do anything to Gastly. Let it pass through you," he instructed his Pokémon. Gastly nodded and floated lower to the ground, waiting for Tauros to reach it.

"That's exactly what I wanted you to do! Switch to Zen Headbutt, Matador!" As Silver gasped at the attack name, the three silver studs on Tauros's head started to glow blue, and soon the whole top of its head started to glow. A transparent reflective shield then appeared around Tauros's head.

"Gastly, get away!" Silver yelled angrily, but the Gas Pokémon didn't have enough time to respond before Tauros crashed into it like a bus. The Pokémon was immediately knocked back and fell to the ground, unable to battle. "What is this?"

"Getting angry, Silver?" the blonde taunted. Silver said nothing and closed his eyes as he recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball. "To tell you the truth, I just recently caught Matador here, but he's already the powerhouse of my team. I let him handle the _tough_ Trainers."

"So that's the powerhouse of your team?" Silver asked quietly, grinning evilly. "Fine, then I'll let you meet _my_ powerhouse!" He pulled a Poké Ball out of his pocket, replacing Gastly's, and quickly tossing it into the air. As the ball opened, a white light poured out of it onto the battlefield like a waterfall, and it slowly formed into his massive Nidoking. The Pokémon growled lightly and sat there with its eyes closed for a moment, but then suddenly opened them and glared at Tauros.

"Wow, that's one huge Pokémon..." Lucy muttered to herself, then shook her head. "Not to worry. You can take him, right Matador?" The Pokémon released a breath of air and dragged its hoof against the ground.

"I'd like to see that puny Tauros try and beat my Nidoking," Silver taunted, putting his hands in his pocket and looking at the battlefield.

"Puny? Matador, Zen Headbutt!" Lucy ordered again, stomping her foot in anger. Once again, the Wild Bull Pokémon charged forward with its head lowered, and the studs on its forehead started to glow blue.

"Iron Tail." Nidoking roared loudly at the command and its tail started to glow white with energy. Then, as Tauros approached it, the Drill Pokémon spun around and slammed its massive tail into the side of Matador's body. The Pokémon mooed loudly in pain and was knocked through the air and onto the outside edge of the arena. Trainers battling on the other battlefield stopped their battle and stared at the two massive Pokémon colliding.

"C'mon Matador, you can do it! I believe in your strength!" Lucy called, but she bit her lip in suspense. The brown bull-like Pokémon did get up, but its left hoof was raised in the air a little bit as if it didn't want to step on it. When she saw this, she gasped. "Matador! Is your leg hurt?"

"Poison Sting." Suddenly, a barrage of purple needles shot forward and hit Lucy's Tauros repeatedly. The Pokémon was not expecting the attack and ducked down to block its eyes from being hurt. Lucy growled and glared at Silver, who's eyes were locked on Tauros. Nidoking's mouth was open from where it fired the Poison Sting attack, but it closed it after the needles stopped coming out.

"How dare you attack my Matador when he's injured!" Lucy shouted.

"Poison Jab," Silver said, ignoring her question completely. Nidoking lowered its head, complying with its Trainer's order, and the whole thing started to glow metallic purple. It then began to sprint forward; each time the massive feet would hit the ground, it seemed like the entire earth was trembling at the Pokémon's power. Quickly, Lucy gasped and pulled out Matador's Great Ball.

"Matador, return!" she shouted in worry, and a red laser shot out of the button in the center of the orb and connected with Tauros; the Pokémon's body turning red and forming into energy before being sucked inside. When Nidoking saw its opponent disappear, it stopped the attack and turned to Lucy to await its next opponent. It was then that she saw the look in Nidoking's eyes. The bloodthirsty glare it gave at all times. It was almost like a mindless killer, ready to kill anything that crossed his path. The look sent chills down her spine, and she forced herself to look away from it. She fixated her glare on Silver and placed her hands on her hips. "What the hell is wrong with you? You knew perfectly well that my Matador couldn't fight back, but you attacked it twice!"

"It was weak," Silver stated bluntly. Lucy growled slightly, narrowing her eyes at him. "Instead of giving me ugly looks, you should send out your next Pokémon so I can head to my Gym Battle."

"You're impossible," Lucy snapped, pulling out a Poké Ball and tossing it into the air. "I choose you, Screws!" Her Poké Ball sailed through the air for a moment before it opened up, releasing a round silver Pokémon that floated through the air. It had one eye in the center of its body, as well as a screw coming out of the top of its head and two others below its eyes. On the sides of its body, there were two U-shaped magnets sticking out.

"Your last Pokémon and you choose a Magnemite?" Silver asked, smirking and shaking his head in disbelief.

"Screws was my first Pokémon, and a gift from my grandfather," Lucy told him. "I believe that it can defeat you and your Nidoking!"

"We'll see. Magnemite rely mostly on Electric-type attacks, and my Nidoking is part Ground-type. They have zero effect on it." At this statement, Lucy sneered.

"You're very mistaken if you think that we only fight using Electric-type attacks!" she bragged. "Screws, show 'em! Use Supersonic!"

"Magnemite!" the Pokémon uttered, then its eye started to glow red. It then released multiple transparent rings from its eye straight at Nidoking. The Pokémon roared loudly and held its hands to its ears as the rings passed through it. Finally, the rings stopped, but Nidoking was still waving back and forth and holding its ears.

"It's confused..." Silver scoffed. "Nidoking, snap out of it this instant." However, Nidoking still swayed back and forth, holding its head with its eyes tightly shut.

"Now use Flash to blind it!" Lucy commanded. Right away, Magnemite floated forward bravely and stopped directly in front of Nidoking. Suddenly, its eyes shot open and it glared at Magnemite angrily. However, instead of being intimidated, its whole body started to glow white, at first lightly, then the light became brighter and brighter in a matter of moments. Nidoking once again bellowed out in anger and pain as its hands raised to its head again, this time to its eyes. Screws floated backwards until it was a safe distance away from Nidoking, who, with one hand swinging around to strike the Magnet Pokémon, and with the other blocking its eyes from the light. Silver stared out onto the battlefield with a blank look on his face as he observed his Pokémon roaring and thrashing its arms around it.

"They may have stopped Nidoking for now, but they just managed to prolong the inevitable..." he muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited.

"Okay Screws, Signal Beam!" Lucy ordered, smiling brightly.

"Magnemite!" the Pokémon cheered. Then, its body became surrounded in silver static briefly before a rainbow-colored aura appeared around it. It then fired a wavy beam of rainbow-colored energy from its body at Silver's Nidoking. The beam struck Nidoking square in the chest, but all it did was push the giant tyrant back a couple steps. Nidoking lowered its head and both of its arms straight down, pausing for a moment to scratch its stomach where it was hit with the beam.

"Now Nidoking, use Double Kick!" Silver commanded, and as soon as he did, Nidoking's eyes shot open. They were bloodshot from the Flash attack and the strain on its head from the Supersonic, and it was raging mad. The Pokémon roared and jumped into the air, surprising both Lucy and Magnemite. Both of Nidoking's feet then started to glow white, and it struck Magnemite's body with one foot, then the other with more power, knocking it to the ground and pushing it into the ground. The force that Magnemite hit caused it to make a little crater in the ground.

"Screws?" the blonde shouted in concern. Her Pokémon, however, managed to respond slowly and started to float up, still willing to battle. "Oh, Screws! You're alright!"

"Get it out of here, Nidoking. I've had enough of this battle," Silver told it, turning away to look at the battle next to them. Nidoking glared down at Magnemite for a moment, and then swung its arm with a large amount of speed and power behind it. It then clobbered the Pokémon and sent it flying. The Pokémon just barely missed taking off Lucy's head and it crashed into the brick wall behind them, making a few cracks in the wall before it slipped to the ground, unconscious. Glad that the battle was finally over, Silver pulled out a Poké Ball and returned Nidoking without saying anything while Lucy ran over and helped her Magnemite up before recalling it into its Poké Ball.

"Well, that battle managed to kill a half an hour of my time," Silver muttered, then turned around to walk into the Pokémon Center.

"Silver, wait!" Lucy called, standing up and running up to him. He sighed in annoyance and stopped for a moment.

"I've waited long enough for my Gym battle. What could you possibly want?" he asked.

"Well, I just wanted to say that I forgive you for not paying attention and bumping into my earlier. And for breaking my headphones," Lucy said. Silver was silent for a moment as he studied her face.

"Okay?"

"I also want to know if... Silver, can I travel with you through the Johto region?" she asked. "Traveling is no fun when you're by yourself, and my grandfather Max used to always say, 'Two's company, but three's a-"

"No," Silver stated straightforward. "I prefer to be alone. That's how I want it to be." And with that, he walked off, leaving Lucy standing in the middle of the doorway by herself. She was silent for a moment as she watched the redhead walk up to Nurse Joy and hand his Poké Balls to her. She found herself smile as he talked briefly to her, then walked out of sight.

"Honest _and_ cute? I've found myself a winner!" she said, giggling to herself.

* * *

It's always nice to write about someone other than Lyra and Khoury every once in a while, y'know? Anyways, this is what Silver's been doing since Lyra left on her Johto Festival routine. While she's been out traveling the world, Silver's been enjoying every quiet moment training. I hope you enjoyed it while it lasted, Silver, because there's not going to be a quiet moment now! :) Lucy Cipher is **NightmareSyndrom**'s OC. I hope I wrote her well!

There's not much to say, so I'll thank the reviewers:

Thank you:

**arkee**

**Eon Penumbra**

**JapanDreamer09**

Anyways, that's it from me! Next chapter, we return to Lyra and Khoury's journey as the Johto Festival continues. The next place we visit it Jubilife City in the Sinnoh region! Woo! Almost done with the Johto Festival arc. Can't wait. Anyways, thanks for reading/reviewing guys, and I'll see you next update!


	31. Overcoming Stage Fright!

_Okay, back to the original story now. That little break was nice, but now it's time to try and get this arc over with once again. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra or Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 28**

Jubilife City was a large, alive city that always had people walking around, no matter the time of day. Like Cinnabar Island, there were always some types of lights on, and it was so much more busy than Lilycove City and Slateport City put together. Because Jubilife City was often a crossing point to many cities in the Sinnoh region, many Pokémon Trainers passed by here to take a break before continuing onto their journey. And because there was a Contest Hall, a TV station, a manufacturing company, a Pokémon School and many other things to do in this city, there was quite a lot of hustle and bustle. And unfortunately for Khoury, the Johto Festival was right in the middle of it all.

"Look at all the people here..." he muttered to himself, his chest tightening at the thought of him having to go up on stage and battle someone in the middle of this huge crowd before them. "I don't know if I'll be able to go up on stage in front of all these people..."

"Khoury, you have to! I promised my Chikorita a break. She's been battling nonstop since the Johto Festival began," Lyra argued, placing her hands on her hips. They were underneath the shade of their booth, as usual at this time of day, and Totodile and Marill were sitting and talking with each other quietly amongst themselves. A customer approached and asked Lyra a few things about the Festival, and Lyra answered their questions, and after the man purchased a few things, she turned back to Khoury. "I get up and do it all the time; it isn't that big of a deal."

"You're used to being the center of attention though! I'm not! And what if I mess up the lines and I get, like, Tamato Berries thrown at me!" Lyra sighed and tilted her head in annoyance.

"I'm pretty sure that isn't going to happen, Khoury," she sighed.

"Oh, my! I haven't had a RageCandyBar in the longest time! I'll take three, miss!" a voice called behind them. As Lyra turned around, she looked at the person in front of the counter and gasped in recognition. The person in front of her was a girl with long aqua hair that were tied together in two pigtails and stuck up after falling behind her shoulders. She wore a periwinkle beanie on her head that only covered the top of her head and her hairline. For clothes, she wore a pink tank top underneath a white long sleeve jacket that only went down to the top of her stomach. She also wore tight three quarter pants that were periwinkle and black. Her emerald eyes reflected kindness and happiness.

"Dani!" Lyra gasped, her eyebrows raised in surprise. The other girl's eyebrows pulled together for a minute.

"I know you from somewhere, don't I?" the girl muttered, then gasped as she remembered. "Lyra? Don't tell me that's you!" When Lyra nodded, Dani squealed in excitement and reached out to give her friend a hug. The two embraced for a short time before Dani pulled away and stepped back. "Wow, look at you! You've grown so much in the past two years; you're as tall as I am again!"

"Well, it happens when you don't come home and see anyone at all," Lyra replied, smirking evilly and looking at her through the corner of her eyes. The girl laughed off the look, laughing with her hand in front of her mouth.

"I've been busy, but I'm sure you've heard that one before," the crystal-haired girl told her. "Speaking of busy, what are you doing all the way in the Sinnoh region? I never would have expected you to have been here; that's why it took me so long to recognize you."

"See, I've been hired to work at the Johto Festival, which is what this is. It's basically a carnival promoting the Johto Region. The one who created it is Khoury's dad. Oh, this is Khoury," Lyra explained, then pointed out the boy next to her.

"Lyra, you know the Top Coordinator _Marina_?" Khoury asked, and Lyra nodded.

"Yes, sir! We grew up together in New Bark Town, but she left for her Pokémon Journey earlier than Ethan and I because she was older," she explained to him, then turned back to Marina. "I never expected to run into you here, though. I figured you'd be on the other side of Sinnoh participating in the Contests over there."

"Well, being Top Coordinator isn't easy. There's lots of photo shoots and TV interviews I have to do here. Not that I'm complaining; I'm living my dream!" Marina said, smiling brightly. Lyra could almost see the stars in her eyes.

"It's so exciting that you're happy with what you've become," Lyra congratulated, and Marina nodded as if to say 'thank you'.

"Okay, well, enough about me. What about you? What are you doing now that you're away from home, other than helping out this cute little Festival?"

"Well, I'm a Pokémon Trainer. I was collecting Badges until I got hired. Take a look!" Lyra pulled her metallic pink Badge Case out of her backpack which was close by and opened it up, showing Marina the two Badges inside.

"Oh, wow! Not bad! I remember when I first won the Zephyr Badge. I was so proud of myself!" Marina informed as Lyra put the case away. She smiled at Lyra and glanced over at Marill and Totodile. Marill had kept an eye on Marina the whole time, as if trying to remember her. "Look at this! Your little Azurill evolved!" The crystal-haired girl rushed up to Marill and picked it up in a tight embrace. "Oh, you were so cute and little back then." After she put Lyra's Marill down, she looked at Totodile. "And look at you! Is this your Pokémon, Lyra?"

"No, that Totodile is mine," Khoury said. Marina waved to the little light blue Pokémon, but Totodile crossed its arms and looked away. "Totodile! That's rude!" Marina giggled to herself and shook her head.

"No, it's okay," she said. "Y'know, I got a Totodile from Professor Elm as my first Pokémon. I got to choose last out of my three friends, but I have no regrets over my choice." Totodile opened its eyes and looked at Marina through the corner of one of its eyes, but quickly looked away.

"Wow, really?" Khoury asked. "We started with the same Pokémon!" When Marina nodded, Lyra stepped forward.

"Dani, I challenge you to a Pokémon Battle!" she declared, surprising both of her friends.

"A battle?" her crystal-haired friend asked.

"Yes. My friend Khoury has stage fright, and he's scared about going up in front of everyone. The way that you battle, you always attract attention, so you're used to it," Lyra explained. "Plus, I want to see how strong my Pokémon are compared to yours." Marina nodded right away and grinned.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do this. There's a little park down the street. We can use that as our battlefield," she accepted, and, after telling Tohmas where they were going, the group left the Festival area and followed Marina to the park.

"Lyra, I don't understand. If you wanted to battle her, why didn't you just battle her during the Festival's battle show?"

"Because if I battled her during the show, then I was limited to only using my Chikorita, and I promised her a break today," Lyra explained. "But just pay close attention to Marina's battling style, okay?" Before Khoury could reply, Marina stopped and turned around. They were in the middle of a grassy field with a sidewalk off to the side where an elderly couple were sitting and feeding a group of gray and white bird-like Pokémon. "How about a three-on-three battle? First one to knock out all three of the other's Pokémon loses?"

"Sounds good to me!" Marina cried, then a smile formed across her face. "And action! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Marina!" Here she pulled out a Poké Ball and placed it in between her index and middle finger. "Not only a great Pokémon Trainer and Coordinator, but also a great singer and dancer!" As she said this, she spun around once and made a peace symbol with one of her hands. As she spun, she pressed the button in the middle of the Poké Ball and it expanded and slipped perfectly into her hand. As she posed and announced herself, the old couple looked up at her, and the multiple Starly that were being fed flew away in surprise. A jogger running by also stopped and stared at the three.

Suddenly, she jumped into the air and tossed the Poké Ball in front of her. "And now, joining her on stage, iiiiit's..." The Poké Ball flew through the air and burst open in front of her, and a rush of white light poured out of the ball and into the air, where it collected and formed together. The Pokémon that appeared in front of them was a bluish-green ghost-like Pokémon with long flowing hair that ended in purple tips behind it. Around its neck and limbless body were multiple red orbs that resembled a necklace. Marina lowered her upper body forward and moved it to the side, then upwards. As she did, the Pokémon did the same thing with its head. Finally, Marina winked and the ghost-like Pokémon did the same thing. "Little Miss the Misdreavus!"

"Misdreavus!" the Pokémon squeaked.

"Misdreavus..?" Lyra muttered, and pulled out her Pokédex to check out the Pokémon. **"Misdreavus, the Screech Pokémon. Misdreavus loves being mischievous by pulling people's hair and shocking them."**

"Misdreavus is a Ghost-type Pokémon!" Khoury called to Lyra, and she nodded.

"Okay then. I'll choose you, Marill!" the brunette said, looking down at the Aqua Mouse Pokémon hanging from her arm. Marill nodded and jumped forward onto the battlefield. Marina smirked at her choice.

"Don't think that just because I remember you, Marill, that I'll go easy on you," she said. "Misdreavus, Psybeam!" The Screech Pokémon lurched forward on command and fired a multicolored beam of energy from both of its eyes straight at Marill.

"Dodge it by using Aqua Jet!" Lyra commanded, then pointed at Misdreavus. "Then attack!" Marill nodded and right away its body became surrounded by water. It then shot like a rocket into the air, swerving around Little Miss's Psybeam attack and firing straight at the Screech Pokémon.

"Spin, Little Miss!" In a fraction of a second before Marill was going to collide into Marina's Pokémon, the little Ghost-type charged forward and spun in midair, completely avoiding the attack.

"What?" Lyra gasped. Her Marill did the same as well, and turned around as the water around it evaporated and it fell. Marina smirked and ordered Misdreavus to turn around.

"Now, Misdreavus, Psybeam again!" Like before, Little Miss fired a multicolored energy beam from its eyes, but this time the attack made contact with Marill and surrounded its body for a bit before dissipating. As Marill slumped to the ground, Lyra called out her Pokémon's name in fear, but it didn't take long for the Water-type to recover.

"Marill, I'm glad you're okay!" the brunette sighed in relief. "Okay, now for payback. Water Gun!" Marill nodded and fired a blast of water from its mouth at Misdreavus.

"Spin again, Little Miss!" Marina commanded. Like before, Misdreavus jumped forward and spun its body clockwise, dodging the attack.

"Turn your head! We're hitting Misdreavus at all costs!" Lyra directed.

"Are you forgetting, Lyra? Misdreavus is a Ghost-type Pokémon. She can float through the air in any direction she wants. Little Miss, dodge it!" As Marill aimed at Misdreavus and turned its head, the little Ghost-type floated upwards and dodged the Water Gun. However, Marill continued following Misdreavus, and the pattern continued for a while, looking like a game of cat and mouse until finally, Marill was forced to stop to take a breather. It looked tired from releasing all that water, and it stood there huffing as a bead of sweat poked out of its blue fur and trickled down the side of its face. "Okay, Little Miss, use Shock Wave!"

"Misdreavus!" the Pokémon sang, then floated down towards the ground and its body became surrounded in yellow electricity. It then releases a ring of yellow electricity from its body outwards. Lyra gasped, but didn't have enough time to react, and soon Marill was struck by the ring of electricity, shocking it and knocking it out right away.

"Marill!" Lyra gasped, and rushed up to her Pokémon. She held it in her arms for a few moments to check if it was okay, and recalled it into its Poké Ball. "You did well. Take a good rest." She walked back to her side of the battlefield and looked at Misdreavus and Marina. Marina was cheering and praising Misdreavus, despite the easy win. "How could Misdreavus dodge all of Marill's attacks so easily?"

"Easy! Endless hours of dance lessons!" Marina declared proudly. "With all the practicing that we do, it's easy to dodge attacks during battle." Lyra grumbled to herself and pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Fine then. Mareep, go!" she called, throwing the Poké Ball out onto the battlefield. The ball opened, and in a flash, the puffy sheep-like Pokémon came out, bleating loudly.

"Oh, wow! Look at that! Your Mareep is so cute!" Marina complimented. "But we're not going to let that stop us! Little Miss, Psybeam!"

"Misdreavus!" the Pokémon called, then fired a rainbow-colored beam from its eyes at Mareep.

"Dodge that, Mareep!" the brunette commanded, and Mareep jumped out of the way of the attack as it struck the grassy area. "We have to stop that Misdreavus from moving around. Use Thunder Wave!" Yellow sparks of electricity appeared around Mareep's wool, and it let out a loud bleat, releasing a beam of yellow electricity from its body at Misdreavus.

"Okay Misdreavus, dodge that by spinning!" Marina told her Pokémon. Like before, Little Miss smirked and charged forward to spin around the attack. However, Lyra smirked.

"So predictable, Dani," she said. "Mareep, use as much electricity as you can! Go!"

"Ma... reeeeeeeep!" the Wool Pokémon shouted, causing the burst of electricity to grow thicker and larger. Both Marina and Misdreavus gasped as the Pokémon was hit by the Thunder Wave. It called out as it was hit, and fell to the ground when the electricity faded. However, its body became surrounded by yellow sparks, showing that it was Paralyzed.

"Oh, Little Miss!" Marina shouted.

"You use the same techniques over and over again. It's gonna get old eventually," Lyra explained. "Now Mareep, use Thunderbolt!" The yellow Pokémon nodded and as it did, its ears became surrounded in yellow sparks of electricity. It then released a blast of yellow electricity from its body straight at Misdreavus. The Ghost-type Pokémon tried to get up and dodge the attack, but the yellow sparks around it sparkled more and it grunted in pain, falling to the ground once again. Finally, the Thunderbolt hit Misdreavus and shocked it. The Pokémon cried out as the electricity coursed through its body, and then couldn't take any more and fell to the ground, knocked out. "Yes! Great job, Mareep!" Marina, meanwhile, frowned and pulled out her Poké Ball.

"Oh! Return Little Miss!" she called, returning the Pokémon back into its Poké Ball. "Not bad, Lyra. You've definitely a great Trainer. But there's no way that you're going to beat my next performer." Marina pulled out a Poké Ball and made it larger. She then tossed it into the air. "And now, on center stage..." The Poké Ball burst open and poured out onto the battlefield. The light then formed into a giant light blue crocodile-like Pokémon that stood on two legs. Both Marina and the creature extended their right arms to their left and arched it up to their right side, then did the opposite with the left arm. Finally, they both put one hand on their hips and the other in the air as a fist. "I give you Wani-Wani the Feraligatr!" After they finished posing, a few people around them clapped and laughed. It was here that Lyra realized that they had received an audience of a handful of people. Khoury, on the other hand, had no idea and was marveling over the Feraligatr in front of him.

"Wow! Look at that! That Feraligatr is so well raised! Look Totodile, that's what you're gonna be some day!" he ranted, then pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the creature. **"Feraligatr, the Big Jaw Pokémon. The final evolution of Totodile. Once a Feraligatr has clamped its powerful jaws around an opponent, it won't let go until the opponent is defeated."**

"Feraligatr may be your first Pokémon, but don't forget that Mareep is an Electric-type Pokémon, which has an advantage over your Water-type," Lyra told her childhood friend, who just smirked back in response.

"That may be true, but Wani-Wani is also my strongest Pokémon. Show her what I mean! Use Aqua Tail!" In a matter of moments, Feraligatr called out and its tail became surrounded by a spiraling stream of water that swirled off its tail for a while before disappearing as quickly as it reappeared. Feraligatr then whipped itself around, and at first, Lyra thought that attack was going to miss. But instead, the water extended and smacked Mareep, knocking it down to the ground.

"It hit?" Lyra gasped. She then grunted and pointed at Marina's Pokémon. "Okay Mareep, show that Feraligatr that you're not backing down. Use ThunderShock!" Mareep pulled itself off the ground and shook its head before light blue sparks appeared around its ears. It then bleated and released a beam of yellow electricity from its body. Marina smirked as the attack sailed at Feraligatr, but did nothing and waited until the electricity hit the blue crocodile Pokémon. The Pokémon cringed as the electricity ran through its body, but opened its eyes and waved it arm with power behind it, knocking away the electricity. "What happened?"

"Iron Tail and Aqua Tail!" Marina called, and Wani-Wani immediately reacted, charging forward as its tail started to glow white. From where the white glow began, a stream of water formed and spiraled around its tail, causing both the tail and water to sparkle marvelously. When it reached Mareep, it turned around and smashed its tail into Mareep. The attack combination took both Trainer and Pokémon by surprise, so there was no time to dodge after they had gotten over their shock. And just like that, Mareep was down.

"Oh, man," Lyra murmured, and returned her Mareep to its Poké Ball. Wasting no time at all, Lyra pulled out her final Poké Ball and tossed it into the air. "Girafarig, it's your turn!" In a flash of light, the yellow and brown Pokémon stood in the grass, its head down and ready for battle.

"What an interesting Pokémon choice," Marina commented. "Wani-Wani, think you can handle it?"

"Gator!" her Pokémon declared loudly, receiving a chuckle from its Trainer.

"Great! Begin with Water Gun!" she commanded. Feraligatr smirked and opened its powerful jaws to release a spiraling stream of water from its mouth at Girafarig.

"Counter with Psybeam!" Lyra shot back, and the Long Neck Pokémon fired a multicolored beam from its horns, hitting Feraligatr's Water Gun attack and fighting for dominance with it. Finally, the attacks canceled each other out, but Girafarig took this to its advantage and galloped forward. "Girafarig, Double Hit, now!"

"Rin!" the Pokémon cried, then reared up on its hind legs. Immediately, its two front hooves started to glow purple and it jabbed its left hoof forward.

"Dodge it!" Marina ordered, and Feraligatr moved its head slightly to the side as the hoof brushed past it. "Now catch the other one!" As Girafarig jabbed the other hoof forward, Feraligatr brought both of its hands forward and wrapped them firmly around the Pokémon's leg. Girafarig called out in alarm and tried to escape, but Feraligatr held on tightly.

"Don't panic, Girafarig! You can get out of this!" Lyra coached, but Marina had other plans.

"Wani-Wani, Hydro Pump!" she told it. Following orders, the red spikes protruding out of its head started to glow red brightly, and Lyra gasped as it opened its mouth and released a powerful blast of water from its mouth, hitting Girafarig at close range in seconds. Feraligatr held on for a few moments before letting go and knocking Girafarig backwards and onto the ground.

"Girafarig! C'mon, you can do it! Get up!" And like Lyra said, it took a couple seconds, but Girafarig managed to get up, though it took some time and it was still a little shaky when it stood up straight. Marina opened her mouth slightly when she saw that it wasn't going down.

"Wow, Girafarig took on Wani-Wani's Hydro Pump head-on and still managed to get up? I'm officially impressed, Lyra," she complimented.

"Thanks, Dani. Now Girafarig, use Psybeam!"

"Rin, rin!" the Pokémon cried and fired another multicolored beam of energy from its horns at Wani-Wani, who quickly jumped out of the way of the attack.

"Again, use Psybeam!" Once again, Girafarig fired another beam at Feraligatr, this time hitting its mark and managing to knock the giant Water-type back a few inches.

"Not bad, Lyra. But I think it's time to finish this battle. Wani-Wani, Superpower!" Marina declared. Feraligatr nodded and reached down to the ground, pulling up a large chunk of the battlefield as its body became surrounded in a light blue aura.

"Ga..._tor_!" it shouted as it flung the chunk of rock and dirt at Girafarig.

"I knew you'd try something like that! Girafarig, Confusion to send it flying right back at Wani-Wani!" Lyra ordered, and Girafarig's eyes started to glow light blue. Suddenly, the chunk of rock and dirt became outlined in light blue energy as well, and it seemed to slow down in midair. Marina, however, smirked.

"Wani-Wani, use Hydro Pump!" she directed, and her Pokémon did as it was told, the spikes on its head glowing once again as it fired a powerful stream of water from its mouth, but this time, it fired the water at the Superpower attack it threw at Girafarig. The sudden push on the attack surprised Girafarig and threw it off concentration, resulting in the chunk of earth breaking into smaller pieces and be carried inside the Hydro Pump at Girafarig, where both attacks hit the Long Neck Pokémon. When the water cleared, Girafarig stood, looking at Wani-Wani with shaking legs, but it couldn't hold onto its consciousness anymore and fell to the ground.

"Oh, no! Girafarig!" Lyra gasped, and ran forward to help her Pokémon. She stroked its white nose as she pulled out its Poké Ball. "You battled really hard and I'm so proud of you, Girafarig. You can take a nice rest now." In a flash of red light, Girafarig was safely inside its Poké Ball, and Marina was cheering on the other side of the battlefield as the spectators clapped at Marina's battle. The crystal-haired girl recalled her Pokémon and walked up to Lyra, reaching her hand forward.

"Although you lost, it was to be expected; I've been on my journey for quite some time. But, it was still a great battle, and I had a ton of fun," she explained. Lyra smiled and nodded, shaking her childhood friend's hand with a proud smile on her face. Khoury approached the two after the crowd dispensed, holding his Totodile in his arms.

"That was a great battle for both of you. Great job!" he congratulated.

"I hope you learned a lot about confidence from the battle, Khoury," Lyra said to him, but the boy laughed nervously. "Wait, you didn't? That was the _whole point_ of this battle!" Marina, however, giggled and held her hand in front of Lyra.

"You probably shouldn't even be taking advice from me in the first place," she said, smiling. "Ever since I was little, I've always wanted to be the center of attention, and I always am. But, of course there are days where I don't feel my best and I don't even want to go out on stage at all. And on those days where I have no choice, I just look _beyond_ the crowd."

"Beyond the crowd?" Khoury repeated.

"Yes! Instead of looking directly _at_ the crowd, look at an object that's behind everyone. That way, it looks like you're looking at them, when really, you can't even see them if you focus hard enough," Marina explained. Khoury was silent as he thought about what Marina said, but then smiled and nodded.

"Okay, I'll try it out!" he declared. On that note, Lyra pulled out her PokéGear and opened it up to look at the time.

"Well, at least it'll still be fresh in your memory. The show's about to start!"

o 0 o

"H-hello people of Sinnoh! Are you feeling g-great?" Khoury shouted as he walked on stage. He tried to ignore Lyra and Marina laughing and pointing at him as he could feel his face redden as many people surrounded the stage. Quickly, he scanned the edge of the crowd, looking for something to lock onto. Finally, he found a trash can filled to the top with empty wrappers, and decided to keep his eyes on that. "My name is Khoury, and I'm from Olivine City in Johto! Please, have a look!" He stepped off to the side and gestured his arm towards the large video monitor behind him. Suddenly, an image of a Chikorita popped up.

"In Johto, new Trainers have a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil-," As he said Cyndaquil, the picture of Chikorita changed into an image of a Cyndaquil with the flame on its back lit up. "-and Totodile as their first Pokémon,-" As before, the image changed to a picture of a Totodile waving to the screen. "-all of which are pretty rare in Sinnoh, as I'm sure you're well aware." He looked at the screen and the image changed to show all three of the Johto Starters, with Totodile on the top of the screen, Chikorita to the left, and Cyndaquil to the right. Khoury, taking a deep breath, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center and making it larger. "Totodile, come on out!" He tossed the ball into the air and it opened up in midair, releasing the light blue Pokémon.

"Toto, dile!" it cried, crossing its arms as it landed on the ground and looked out at the massive audience. Like the times before, a handful of Trainers each pulled out their multicolored Pokédexes and scanned the brand new Pokémon with them. Finally, after every last one of the Trainers put their Pokédex away, Khoury scanned the audience and picked out a random Trainer, a female Trainer with dark blue hair.

"Hey, you with the dark blue hair!" The girl looked around to see if anyone around her had dark blue hair, then realized that it was her that he was talking to. "I was wondering how you would feel about having a battle with this Totodile. Come up! Now don't be shy!" The crowd began to cheer loudly to encourage the girl to go up. After thinking about it for a bit, the girl nodded and walked up onto the stage. The girl had her hair tied up in a ponytail at the base of her neck, and she looked nervously out at the crowd with her dark brown eyes. "Hi, what's your name?" Khoury asked quietly as he approached her.

"I'm Laura..." the girl replied, looking down at the ground. Khoury nodded and made his way over to his side of the stage. Totodile trotted over to his side of the battlefield as well. "And if you win, I've got a fabulous prize to commemorate the occasion for you!" Laura seemed surprised at the statement, but smiled nonetheless and nodded.

"Okay, I'll try my best!" the girl said. She pulled out a Poké Ball from her jean pocket and pressed the silver button in the center, making it bigger. She then tossed it through the air. "Ponyta, I choose you!" From the ball, a cream-colored horse-like Pokémon with a fiery mane and tail burst out. As it landed on the stage, it neighed loudly and looked down at its opponent. From the back stairs, Khoury's dad walked onstage and stepped in between the two Pokémon.

"It's the battle between Mankey and Chikorita!" he called, then crossed his arms and ducked out of the way. "Begin!"

"Okay, Ponyta, let's begin with Flame Wheel!" Laura commanded, pointing at Totodile. The Fire Horse Pokémon reared up on its hind legs and neighed loudly as its body became surrounded by a fiery aura and it galloped forward with incredible speed.

"Totodile, douse its flames with Water Gun!" Khoury called. Totodile nodded and jumped into the air, taking in a deep breath before firing a stream of water at Ponyta. The Water-type attack immediately evaporated the flames, and a white steam rose into the air as the Fire-type Pokémon was knocked backwards.

"It's okay Ponyta, we can do this! Use Sunny Day!" the blue-haired girl ordered. Ponyta glared forward and a fire lit deep within its dark pupils. Suddenly, it raised its head and neighed loudly, and a bright light erupted from its body and shot into the sky towards the sun. The crowd was silent for a moment as they studied the sun above, waiting to see what would happen next. Suddenly, there was a large explosion of color, and the sun seemed to get brighter, and the temperature was warmer. The Fire Horse Pokémon seemed to be loving this, and was basking in the warm sunlight. As it closed its eyes to absorb the sunlight's energy, the flames on its back seemed to grow bigger.

"Great... we have to be careful, Totodile. Now all of Ponyta's Fire-type attacks are going to get stronger," Khoury told his Pokémon.

"Ember!" Laura shouted, not skipping a beat. Right away, the Fire Horse Pokémon opened its mouth and shot a barrage of orange bolts of fire from its mouth.

"Oh! Um, Totodile, Water Gun!"

"Toto...dile!" the Big Jaw Pokémon called, opening its mouth and releasing a stream of water from its mouth. The two attacks collided and started to fizz, but the Ember attack was even more powerful, so it managed to knock back the Water Gun.

"Jump!" Khoury instructed, and Totodile did just that, stopping its Water Gun attack and jumping into the air as the Ember attack struck the stage where Totodile was previously standing. "Now, use Aqua Tail!"

"You think you can jump higher than my Ponyta? Use Bounce!" Laura commanded. Ponyta released a cry before bending down slightly and jumping high into the air while Totodile's tail released a spiral of water from the base and it started spiraling around it. Ponyta, however, was too quick for Totodile to spin around in midair, and jabbed it in the stomach with one of its front hooves. As Totodile gasped for breath, Ponyta rose higher and bounced off its head, sending the Big Jaw Pokémon hurtling towards the ground.

"Totodile!" Khoury gasped as the Pokémon slammed into the stage below.

"SolarBeam now! Let's go!" As Khoury gasped once again, the flames on Ponyta's back started to glow gold and suddenly, it opened its mouth and fired a quick but powerful beam of golden energy from its mouth straight down at Totodile, hitting it like a meteor to Earth and causing a large explosion. As Ponyta landed gracefully on the ground, the smoke around Totodile cleared, and it was knocked out on the ground, gasping slowly in pain.

"Totodile is unable to battle! And the victory goes to Ponyta, which makes Laura our big winner!" Tohmas announced, raising his hand to Laura's side. The audience cheered loudly and clapped as Laura congratulated her Pokémon.

"Wow, she made it seem like she was powering up her Fire-type attacks with Sunny Day when she was actually planning on using SolarBeam the whole time..." Khoury muttered. Suddenly, someone made a sound behind him, and he turned around and saw David with a white package. "Oh, right, the prize." Khoury quickly recalled his Totodile before grabbing the white box from his colleague. "Congratulations, Laura."

"Thanks. It was an honor battling with you," she replied, smiling.

"Here," Khoury said, handing the box to the blue-haired girl. Laura accepted the box and opened it slowly, gasping when she saw what it was. Inside the round case was a light green egg with multiple dark green spots around it in a rim. "As you can see, Laura's prize is a fabulous Pokémon Egg!" The audience cheered and clapped once again as Laura examined her new Pokémon Egg with an obvious delight. "Of course the question now is just what Pokémon is inside that egg. You'll have to wait and see!" Khoury then turned towards the audience and smiled. "And on behalf of the Johto Festival committee, we hope you all had a wonderful time, and we'd like to see you in Johto soon!" The crowd cheered once again and congratulated Laura as she recalled her Ponyta and walked off the stage holding her brand new Pokémon Egg in her arms. Khoury's dad, as well as Lyra and Marina walked up on stage as Khoury let out a huge sigh as if a huge weight had been lifted off him.

"You did a really great job, Khoury!" Lyra complimented. "I guess Dani's advice really worked, huh?"

"Well, kinda. At first I was looking at a trash can, but then as time went on, I started not to be nervous anymore," he explained.

"See, it wasn't even as bad as you thought," Tohmas told him, smiling and patting his son on the shoulder.

"Your Totodile fought well, too," Marina said. "It just needs to be trained a bit more."

"You really think so?" Khoury asked, and Marina nodded.

"Of course!" Suddenly, her pocket started to ring, and she pulled out a white PokéGear that looked like a pocket watch, which was what the old models were like. "Hello?"

"Marina, where are you? You're gonna be late for this photo shoot!" the voice on the other line said.

"Oh, shoot! I forgot! I just ran into an old friend and the time escaped me! I'll be there as soon as I can!" As she hung up, she looked at Lyra nervously. "Sorry Lyra, I have to go."

"Oh, of course! You're a big superstar now. It happens," the brunette replied, smiling. The two embraced once again.

"It was nice seeing you again, Lyra. Nice meeting you Khoury! Bye!" she cried, then ran off towards the exit of the festival.

"Bye Dani! I hope to see you again soon!" Lyra shouted, waving to her old friend. Finally, when she could no longer be seen, Tohmas sighed.

"Well, I suppose we ought to pack up and head to our next destination," he suggested.

"Sure! Where are we going next?" Lyra asked.

"Our next stop is Floaroma Town, just north of here!" Khoury answered for him.

"Excellent! I can't wait!"

* * *

Finally, this chapter's done. I find it funny. When Lyra first started her journey, she watched one of Marina's contests that took place in Floaroma Town. This is simply coincidence, lol. I didn't have any idea that this would happen. XD

Anyways, guys, I have a huge announcement to make, though it probably isn't good. You see, the thing is, I've been really busy as of late. Not getting into detail, but that's the bottom line. And because I've been so busy, I haven't really had time to write. Plus, I've completely lost enthusiasm for Pokémon at this point right now. Now, I'm not canceling the story, but I just need a break from this story for a while. So I'm going to go on a one month hiatus and start updating once again when the new year comes around. It seems like a lot, but in reality, it's really just one month. XD Anyways, I'm hoping that this will give me time to write more on my story and get my enthusiasm back. So, anyways, I'll thank the reviewers for last chapter:

Thank you:

**DK114**

**ScotSniper**

**arkee**

**Nianque**

**Eon Penumbra**

**14thEternityNightmare**

**JapanDreamer09**

Anyways, that's it for this chapter. After our brief hiatus, the Johto Festival heads to Floaroma Town, where Lyra and Khoury meet some very familiar faces (to us). Anyways, thank you guys for understanding, and I hope that you all stick with this story! :D See you next update! Thanks for reading/reviewing!


	32. An Egg Scramble!

_An update? Whaaaat? XD I know, the hiatus went on longer than I thought, but I've been busy. Here's the twenty-ninth chapter! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 29**

In two flashes of bright light, Tropius and Pidgeot stretched their wings and breathed in the fresh Sinnoh air. Tohmas put away the two Pokémon's Poké Balls and looked at them. "We're going to Floaroma Town, which is just north of here. Care to give us a ride?" Pidgeot spread its wings and flapped them a couple times to test them out, then called out and nodded. Tropius smiled widely and shook his head up and down as well. After making sure that everything was all packed up, Khoury, his father and Lyra mounted the two Pokémon and they took off into the air, flying to the north.

o 0 o

By the time the group of three got to Floaroma Town, the entire town was dark, so they couldn't see much as they flew through the air and hovered over it. However, as they landed at the Pokémon Center, which was a large pink building with a yellow roof and a large red 'P' on the front of the roof, Lyra noticed how the whole city seemed to smell of the sweet fragrance of flowers of all kinds.

"Wow, Khoury, you smell that? It smells so good! I don't think I've ever smelled anything like it before!" she commented, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath through her nose.

"I don't know. Pollen really clogs up my sinuses," he muttered as they landed.

"Boy Khoury, way to stay positive," she replied back quietly as she jumped off Tropius's back.

"That smell you're smelling is all the flowers all around Floaroma Town," Tohmas explained, thanking his Pokémon and returning them into their Poké Balls. "Floaroma Town is famous for its wide variety of plant-life and flowers."

"Floaroma Town actually used to be a barren wasteland many years ago," a voice added, and they all jumped slightly at the sudden voice in the night. But when they turned to see where the voice came from, they saw Nurse Joy watering the water beds on the windows. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you. I just heard you talking about Floaroma Town's history."

"It's fine. Please, tell us more!" Lyra urged, the three of them walking up to her.

"Of course," Nurse Joy responded, nodding slightly. "Like I said, the town was just a barren wasteland. Of course the townspeople tried to plant more plants, but everything they planted died. All seemed to be lost, but one day, as legend has it, a beautiful woman walked up to the top of the hill that is now Floaroma Town and gave thanks to nature's beauty. At once, the flowers and trees began to grow all around. And thus, Floaroma Town was born."

"What a beautiful history," Lyra said, smiling brightly at the story. Nurse Joy nodded at her response, agreeing with the girl, then looked at Tohmas.

"Are you Tohmas, head of the Johto Festival? Your employers called and already made the reservations for everyone," she reported.

"Oh, wow. Thanks Nurse Joy," the older man thanked, then turned to the two kids. "Why don't you two go in and head to bed. The gang and I are gonna set up for tomorrow so we can get an early start."

"Okay, sounds good," Lyra agreed, nodding her head.

"Just don't overwork yourself, okay, Dad?" Khoury reminded worriedly.

"Don't worry about me, Khoury. I feel fine. We're finally living your mother's dream. She motivates me," Tohmas replied, patting his son's frail shoulders. Khoury studied him for a bit before smiling and nodding.

"You're right," he agreed. "Goodnight, Dad. See you tomorrow."

o 0 o

Everyone was right; Floaroma Town was the most beautiful place Lyra had ever seen. There were bright and breathtaking flowers all around. Throughout the town, there were patches of the brightest flowers the brunette had ever seen. Scattered in the trees were fresh berries as well, that were the biggest and most colorful berries that couldn't be found anywhere else. Even the buildings of the town were unique. They looked like houses did back in the olden days, but were preserved finely so they looked like they were brand new. Although some were newer than others, they blended in nicely together.

Right now, Lyra and Khoury were sitting at their booth, serving the people who came to purchase something. Because it wasn't as busy as the big cities they had been to, keeping up with the people here was simple. There were a few tourists and Trainers here and there that would ask about the Johto region every once in a while, since Floaroma Town was such a tourist attraction.

Sitting behind the booth, she mindlessly watched Khoury try to feed his Totodile food that he made himself, but Totodile refused to eat it, and it got cranky when it wouldn't eat. Her eyes, however, were glazed over, and she was daydreaming deeply.

Ever since meeting up with Dani, Lyra had been thinking about her Journey. And for the first time in a week, she thought of Silver and his travels. And of Ethan. How strong could her Pokémon get while traveling around with the festival? Sure, she had gotten to see so many amazing places that many people would die for, but could she be able to keep up her training while traveling from place to place? For the past two weeks, it hadn't been anything but moving from one place to another.

_Maybe I should start traveling again... But what would Khoury do without me? And Tohmas? I don't just want to leave them. Not after all they've done for me,_ Lyra thought to herself.

"Hey Lyra," Khoury spoke, popping Lyra's thoughts like a balloon and bringing her back to reality. "Where's Marill?" The brunette shook her head, her brown pigtails swinging side-to-side and slapping her cheeks lightly. She gasped when she realized he was right. Marill was missing once again.

"She must have gotten distracted by the flowers or something and wandered off," Lyra muttered, rolling her eyes. "She _really_ has to stop doing that."

"What should we do?" he asked nervously.

"Just stay here and run the booth, okay? I'll find Marill," Lyra assured, smiling. "It won't be that hard. Floaroma isn't that big of a town."

o 0 o

"Marill!" The sound of Lyra's red shoes slapping against the pavement echoed off the buildings as she rushed through the streets of the town. As she jogged by, people would stop what they were doing and look at her briefly before continuing on to their routines.

The brunette slowed her pace until she was walking slowly, then stopped completely, her head and eyes darting back and forth for bright blue fur. "Now now, what could be troubling such a pretty young girl?" An old woman who was running a flower cart was looking at Lyra with tired gray eyes, but the smile on her face was bright and uplifting.

"I'm trying to find my Marill. I turned my head for two seconds and she disappeared," the brunette admitted, giggling to herself and approaching the stand. "You didn't happen to see her run by, did you?"

"A Marill?" the elderly woman repeated, scratching her chin. "Why, I believe I do remember seeing one run by not too long ago. I found it strange how a Pokémon that isn't seen much around here could be wandering around."

"Oh, really? Do you know which way she went?" The old woman scratched her head in thought, her graying brown hair not moving an inch from its perfect bun.

"I think I remember your Pokémon going down that road right there." The lady pointed to a road that turned off from the main road a block down. "Just be careful not to go too far; that road leads to Route 205."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks so much, ma'am!" Lyra said, bowing in thanks and running up the road the old woman pointed out. As she turned the corner and started to walk down the street that the old woman saw Marill go down, she saw a large burst of water coming from down the road. Lyra gasped when she recognized it as Marill's Water Gun attack, and raced forward as soon as it disappeared.

Running down the road, her eyes immediately caught sight of Marill, and it was surrounded by three Pokémon Trainers. Marill was smiling, however, so Lyra knew right away that it wasn't in any danger. "Hey! There you are!" Lyra called as she jogged up to her Pokémon. The three Pokémon Trainers looked at Lyra right away, and Marill looked happy to see its Trainer.

"Marill!" it exclaimed happily, raising its arms in excitement. Lyra slowed down when she reached her Pokémon and put her hands on her hips.

"Now how did you manage to get here?" she asked it.

"Does this Marill belong to you?" the only girl questioned. She was shorter than the whole group, but not by much. She had beautiful dark blue hair that went down to her mid back. The top part was tied into a ponytail, but two sections of it had been clipped to the sides of her heads and hung down over her ears, but over it was a white beanie with a pink Poké Ball symbol on the front. She wore a short dress that had a black vest-like pattern on the upper body and a short pink skirt pattern on the bottom. She wore matching pink boots and she wore a red scarf around her neck. At her side was a small light blue penguin-like Pokémon with a darker blue cape going down its back and two white spots on the front of its body.

"It sure does. But it just disappeared," Lyra replied, pulling out Marill's Poké Ball and putting it back inside before it ran off again. After Marill was safely inside its Poké Ball, Lyra looked at the Trainers and smiled. "So, Lyra's the name. Hi, I'm a Trainer."

"My name's Dawn," the female who spoke up before said, then she motioned towards the Pokémon at her feet. "I'd like you to meet my partner Piplup."

"Piplup!" the Pokémon squeaked, putting its arms on its waist and sticking its chest out proudly.

"Hi, I'm Ash," the dark haired Trainer behind Dawn introduced. He had a red and black cap with a light blue Poké Ball symbol on the front over his messy black hair, and he wore a black and white jacket with a yellow stripe going across his chest. He also wore baggy blue jeans. Next to him was a small yellow Pokémon with red cheeks and black tips on the ears. Like the girl in front of him, he motioned towards his Pokémon. "And this is Pikachu."

"Pika, pika!" the yellow Pokémon waved at Lyra nicely.

"I'm Brock, and I'm a Pokémon Breeder," the final Trainer added. He was the oldest of the group, and he had spiky brown hair that stuck straight up. He wore a orange and brown vest over his forest green collared shirt, and he wore gray pants.

"Well it's very nice to meet you all," Lyra said, then looked down at Piplup and pulled out her Pokédex. "You're a Piplup, huh? Let's see..." The Pokédex sprung to life and scanned the Penguin Pokémon. **"Piplup, the Penguin Pokémon. Although not the sure-footed, it is proud nonetheless, getting right back up after a fall with head held high."**

"Awesome! Is that a Pokédex?" Dawn asked, trying to look closely at the device. Lyra held the device forward to show them.

"Yeah. Straight from the Johto region and it's brand new!"

"Woah, are you from Johto?" Ash questioned. Lyra put her Pokédex back in her pocket and nodded at Ash.

"Yeah, have you heard of it?" She stopped and thought for a moment. "Hey, that reminds me. I've got something cool to show you."

"Cool? Show us what?" Dawn repeated. Lyra pointed behind her with her thumb.

"Back there. The Johto Festival's going on now as we speak," she explained.

"Johto Festival?" Ash repeated as well.

"Yup. You'll see soon," she told him. "So, ready to go... Dane?" As she said Dawn's new nickname, she winked at her and grinned at her.

"Dane?" Dawn mumbled, raising one of her eyebrows. "Okay..." So, with that, Lyra turned around and started walking in the direction she came, the three Trainers following behind her. "Where are you taking us, Lyra?"

"I told you, it's a secret," she replied to Dawn, smiling at her. "But it's fun." After following her footsteps, Lyra lead the three back to the Johto Festival. The Pokémon Trainers gasped in awe at the sight of it, and they stopped to look at it.

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Check _that_!" Ash added. Just then, Lyra's PokéGear began to ring in her pocket, so she pulled it out to answer it. "What's that?" he asked her. Lyra turned around and held out her hand to show them.

"It's a PokéGear. It's got a phone and a map and everything built right in," Lyra explained, then opened it up and answered it. "Hello?" As she opened it, Khoury's face appeared on the screen.

"It's Khoury, of course. Where did you go now?" he asked worriedly.

"I'll be back soon," the brunette assured, then closed the PokéGear and placed it back in her pocket. "This is the Johto Festival. We've been traveling with it on the road everywhere to help promote the Johto Region." Just then, the large monitor in the middle of the area on the stage turned on and the video of Lyra started to play.

"Welcome everybody," Lyra said on the TV monitor, and Dawn giggled when she saw the brunette on the screen.

"Look at that!" she exclaimed as Piplup bounced up onto the top of her head and laid down there.

"It's you, Lyra!" Ash pointed out. The girl nodded and watched the television with them. She realized herself that because she was always so busy, she never really had any time to watch the video that put her on staff at the Festival.

"Thank you for coming to the Johto Festival!" the Lyra on the television said. Instead of a green screen, there was a beautiful background of Johto's forests and mountains.

"So I guess that means you're on staff," Brock assumed, and Lyra blushed and put one of her hands behind her head.

"I hope so! Well at least that's what they told me the last time I checked," she replied jokingly, waving her arm at him, then turned back to the screen. It was so weird watching herself on T.V., and she almost felt self-conscious about it. Almost as weird as when she encountered the Unown in her mind and it took the form of her.

The Lyra on the television gestured her arm, and suddenly grew smaller to the corner of the monitor. As she did, the photo that Tohmas took of Ecruteak City appeared in the background. "When you hear the name Johto, most people think of the legendary Ecruteak City." The camera zoomed in, and the city faded away to a picture of the Burned Tower. "After you spend a little time learning about the Legend of the Burned Tower where people and Pokémon bonded in ancient times, then how about having a Pokémon Battle with one of these lovely Kimono Girls?" As she said this, the image of the Tower faded like the other image, and a picture of one of the Kimono Girls appeared in its place. Two more rose out from the bottom of the screen as well. Seeing the Kimono Girls, Lyra suddenly remembered Kit and Kat, the apprentice Kimono Girls who went out on a Journey after they had visited them. The brunette frowned when she thought that she might not see them again as long as she was with the Festival.

"Wow, Johto; great memories," Ash muttered behind her, and Pikachu replied in the same remembering tone as well.

"More than great!" Brock added, flaunting over the pictures of the Kimono Girls. Finally, the image faded to the picture of Goldenrod City.

"But if you just want a place to have fun, then Goldenrod City is the place for you." The image of Lyra darted to the other side of the screen, and the image behind her melted into the picture they took of the Shining Lighthouse, and soon after that, the image of Sparkle in mid-pose, appeared over it. "Now don't forget Olivine City, which is famous for Ampharos, the Light Pokémon." The picture once again faded, however, this time, it was the picture of the Blackthorn Gym. In front of it, Clair and her Dragonair appeared on the screen. "And there's Blackthorn City, where you can actually battle Dragon-type Pokémon over at its magnificent Gym!" The picture of the Gym disappeared and the image once again became the mountain area, and Lyra moved to the middle of the screen. "And with nature's beauty, Johto's full of surprises!"

"Here, come with me!" Lyra told them, not wanting to watch herself on the television set anymore. She gestured them to follow her and started walking to the booth that Khoury and her were running. In front of it, Tohmas was standing in front of it and clapping his hands to try and sell some of the merchandise.

"Step right up to Johto's most famous Milk Shop for a free sample of MooMoo Milk!" he called.

"Wow, that's good! Thanks!" a small boy said to him, taking a sip of the milk. The boy laughed and, taking his mother's hand, walked away.

"Thank you, and come again!" Khoury stated, then noticed Lyra approaching with Ash, Dawn and Brock.

"Sorry about the wait!" the brunette apologized, waving to the two as she approached.

"Hey Lyra," Khoury said, then looked at the three Trainers behind her.

"How're you doing?" Ash greeted.

"Welcome to the Festival," Khoury's dad replied. Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, Dawn turned her head and saw Khoury's Totodile on the counter. The Pokémon looked up at the new person with slight interest.

"Hey, a Totodile!" she exclaimed, and took out a strange pink Pokédex that was completely different from Lyra's. It was flat and rectangular, and it opened up like Lyra's PokéGear. **"Totodile, the Big Jaw Pokémon. Totodile has a habit of using its highly developed jaws to chomp on anything in sight, so Trainers beware."** Lyra found it strange how even the Pokédex's voice was different from hers; Dawn's Pokédex had a female voice while Lyra's had a male voice.

Piplup and Pikachu hopped down from their Trainers and onto the counter. The two Pokémon greeted Totodile with a wave, but Totodile crossed his arms and closed its eyes. "Seems a bit... distant," Dawn commented as the Pokémon bounced back onto their Trainer's shoulder and head.

"That's Totodile; it's always acting like that," Khoury responded nervously, then looked down at it. "What's worse, it won't eat any of the Pokémon food I make for it." Brock looked down at the bowl of Pokémon Food that was sitting next to Totodile untouched. He reached forward, and to Lyra's surprise, he picked up a small piece and bit into a part of it. He crunched it in his mouth a little bit, then swallowed it.

"I think it may be a tad too sweet," he deduced.

"Huh?" Khoury asked, looking at Brock with a cocked head.

"You have any Chesto Berries?" the taller Trainer asked him.

"Uh, well, yeah, but..." Khoury bent down and reached underneath the booth where a handful of berries were kept. He picked up a basketful of the blue and yellow berries and handed them to Brock. The Pokémon Breeder took two and took out a ceramic bowl and mixing stick and started to crush the blue part of the Chesto Berries in the bowl, scraping the stick back and forth in it until the berries had turned into a thin blue powder. Both Khoury, Totodile and Lyra looked on with interest as he finished crushing it down. He worked in silence, his squinted eyes focused completely on his work. He scooped up as much of the powder as he could in his hand and sprinkled it over the bowl of Pokémon food that Khoury had laid out for Totodile.

"Here you go," Brock said, placing the bowl beside Totodile. The Big Jaw Pokémon bent down and sniffed the food Brock had provided for it a couple times before scarfing down the food as fast as it could, looking as happy as Lyra had ever seen it. When Khoury saw Totodile start to eat, he grinned widely.

"Now don't forget _I_ brought them here," Lyra reminded Khoury, then stuck out her chest. "So, pretty neat, huh?"

"I want to be the greatest Pokémon Breeder in the world," Brock declared.

"Wow, that's an awesome goal!" Khoury responded.

"Thanks. I'll give you some recipes if you'd like."

"Thank you so much. That's great." Everyone turned their heads as Tohmas approached them with three ice cream cones in his hands. He walked up to them and held out the cones.

"These cones are all freshly made from MooMoo Milk," he informed them. "Give 'em a try!" Ash, Dawn and Brock each took one, and the black-haired Trainer was the first to take a bite.

"Tasty!" he exclaimed.

"It's delicious!" Dawn added.

"Glad you like it," Lyra said. "And you can get free samples of everything they sell here, so try all of it!"

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed loudly, raising his arm in the air. "I just happen to be starving as well! Let's get this show on the road!" In one quick motion, he finished off the rest of his ice cream cone. Lyra raised her eyebrows at how quickly he finished his cone, but Tohmas took her attention off him.

"Lyra, they're your friends?" he asked the girl.

"Sure! They helped me to find Marill," she explained. "Their names are Ash, Brock, and Dane."

"Actually, it's Dawn," the blue-haired girl corrected, smiling nervously.

"Nice to meet 'ya!" Ash greeted.

"Hi, my name's Khoury!" the forest green-haired Trainer introduced, leaning across the booth and smiling at them.

"And I'm Khoury's dad," Tohmas added.

"Da-da-da-daaa!" Lyra sang, raising her arms into the air. "See, Khoury's dad here is responsible for the entire festival. And I guess you could call Khoury a Pokémon Breeder if you stretched it."

"Woah, you guess?" Khoury replied. "Hey, that's cruel." The girl smiled at him and put her hands behind her back.

"So Lyra, didn't you say you were a Trainer?" Ash questioned.

"Yup! I'm visiting all the Johto Gyms. What about you, Ash?"

"We're working to get into the Sinnoh League and win it!" the spiky-haired Trainer replied. "We've already got seven Badges to show for it, too."

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu added.

"Wow! I've only won two so far," Lyra responded, reaching into her pocket and pulling out her Badge Case. She held it out in front of her and opened it up to show them her Badges. "Look, the Zephyr Badge from the Violet Gym, and also the Hive Badge from the Azalea Gym." She put away her Badge Case and looked at Dawn. "Dane, what about you?"

"I'm a Coordinator, see? And my next Contest is the one they're having in Oreburgh City!"

"Awesome! Actually, since I specialize in battling, you're the first Coordinator friend I've made so far."

"Toto, dile!" Totodile squeaked, jumping onto Khoury's shoulder and looking at Lyra. The brunette looked at Totodile and raised one of her eyebrows.

"Hey Totodile, what's up?" Lyra asked it.

"I think it's trying to let you know that the show's going to start," Khoury translated. Lyra gasped and put her hand in front of her mouth.

"Woah, I forgot!" the brunette exclaimed.

"A show?" Dawn repeated.

"Yeah. It's an exhibition of all the Johto Pokémon," she explained, then a light bulb turned on inside her head. "Why don't you guys check it out?"

"Great!" all of them said, nodding their heads. Tohmas handed Lyra a microphone that she clipped onto the top of her overalls and the group made their way onto the stage in the middle of the festival.

"Hello people of Sinnoh! Are you feeling great?" Lyra cried, raising her arms into the air. She waited for all the people in the festival to gather around before continuing. The crowd that gathered around the stage cheered loudly in response to her question. Lyra raised her arm, then lowered it and pointed at herself. "My name's Lyra, and I'm from New Bark Town in Johto. Please, have a look!" The brunette gestured to the large television screen behind her, and it automatically switched on, showing the image of a Chikorita.

"In Johto, Trainers have a choice between Chikorita, Cyndaquil-" As she said Cyndaquil, the picture of Chikorita changed into an image of a Cyndaquil with the flame on its back lit up. "-and Totodile for their first Pokémon,-" Like before, the image switched to an image of a Totodile, waving to the audience. "all of which are pretty rare in Sinnoh, as I'm sure you're all well aware." As she said this, the she looked at the screen and the image changed to show all three of the Johto Starters, with Totodile on the top of the screen, Chikorita to the left, and Cyndaquil to the right. She paused and let the audience look at the pictures of the three Pokémon for a moment before she pulled a Poké Ball from her pocket. "Alright then, Chikorita. You're up, go!" The brunette tossed the Poké Ball in front of her and the sphere burst open, releasing a white light from inside it.

"Chika!" her Pokémon cried as it appeared within the light and landed on the stage. Chikorita stopped and looked out at the audience and Lyra waited for the Trainers to pull out their Pokédex and scan her Pokémon. She also saw that Dawn did the same thing, and found her, as well as Ash, Khoury and Brock, in the front of the stage. Finally, after all the Trainers up away their Pokédex, Lyra walked forward and pointed at Dawn.

"Hey, you with the Piplup over there!" Lyra called.

"Who, me?" Dawn asked, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Pip?" her Piplup, who was in her arms, added, also confused.

"I was wondering how you two would feel about having a battle with this Chikorita," she suggested. "Come up! Now don't be shy!" The audience clapped excitedly to get Dawn up there. Dawn looked around at the audience worriedly, but Ash smiled and looked at her.

"That sounds like fun, Dawn! Go on, do it!" he urged, pushing her shoulder with his hand towards the entrance of the stage to the right of them. She slowly walked forward and climbed up the stairs to get onto the stage, taking a quick glance at the audience before stopping. Lyra also moved to the other side of the stage and Chikorita stopped in front of her. The brunette put her hands on her hips and leaned forward a bit.

"And if you win, I've got a fabulous prize to commemorate the occasion for you!" she informed her. Dawn's face turned from nervous to interested right away.

"Prize?" she repeated, then smirked. "Alright Piplup, let's go!" She opened her arms and Piplup jumped out of them, landing on the stage in front of her.

"Piplup!" it cried confidently.

"Chika!" Chikorita sent back, smirking.

"That's more like it!" Lyra replied, smiling at the two's taunts to each other.

"You got it, Dawn!" Ash cheered from the sidelines. His Pikachu also did as well.

"Alright, this is really a duel between two Trainers' starting Pokémon from Johto and Sinnoh, in the match of the century!" the brunette said. Tohmas walked up on stage from the side. On the television monitor, there was a picture of a Chikorita and a Piplup on both sides of a Poké Ball that was in the middle. Tohmas raised both of his arms into the air and started.

"It's the battle between Piplup and Chikorita!" he called, then lowered his arms. "Begin!" Lyra jumped right into the action, wanting to get the first move in.

"Now Chikorita, Razor Leaf!" she commanded. Her Pokémon jumped into the air and swung its head forward. Multiple razor-sharp leaves shot out from the large leaf on its head straight at Piplup. Piplup jumped up to try and dodge the attack, but jumped too low and was hit by the leaves. It cried out as the leaves slashed it, and it fell back, bouncing on the stage as it did, but caught itself and skidded in front of its Trainer. The blue-haired Trainer waited for Piplup to recover, then pointed forward.

"Piplup, BubbleBeam, now!" Dawn called. The Penguin Pokémon leaped up in the air and pulled its head back. It then threw its head forward and opened its beak. The inside of it started to glow light blue and it shot out multiple light blue bubbles from it.

"Quick, Light Screen, go!" Lyra ordered.

"Chika!" her Pokémon growled, and its eyes started to glow gold. A golden box of energy appeared around it, appearing just in time for the BubbleBeam to strike it. Chikorita flinched as the bubbles repeatedly hit the box, and it pushed it back a bit.

"You can do it, Dawn!" Ash cheered from the sidelines. Dawn reacted quickly as the last bubble was shot from Piplup's beak.

"Now Piplup, use Peck!" she told it. Not skipping a beat, Piplup rushed forward, its beak starting to glow white. As it approached Chikorita, the Light Screen around it faded, and Piplup jumped forward, jabbing its beak into the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita called out in pain as it was thrown backwards. "That's what I'm talking about!" She paused as she waited for Chikorita to get up once again. "Alright, BubbleBeam once more!" Like before, Piplup jumped into the air and, with the inside of its beak glowing light blue, fired a beam of light blue bubbles from its mouth at Chikorita.

"Now, Light Screen quick!" Once again, the Leaf Pokémon's eyes started to glow gold and a gold box appeared around its body, shrouding it from the BubbleBeam.

"Use Peck to break through!" Dawn shouted excitedly, and the Penguin Pokémon immediately jumped forward, zooming through the air with its beak glowing white. The Pokémon charged right through the Light Screen, breaking it and sending small golden shards everywhere around the battlefield as it jabbed its back into Chikorita. Chikorita cried out as fell back and skidded across the stage. It stopped in front of Lyra and struggled to get up, but finally slumped over and gave up.

"Chikorita is unable to battle," Tohmas judged, watching Chikorita. He then gestured to Dawn. "And the victory goes to Piplup! Which makes Dawn our big winner!"

"We did it!" Dawn cheered, and the audience called out and clapped for them as well. Lyra put Chikorita into its Poké Ball without saying anything, but looked at the Poké Ball apologetically.

"I guess my judgment was a little off, Chikorita, and I'm really sorry," she apologized, and held the Poké Ball up proudly. "But you still did a great job!" Dave sneaked up behind Lyra and handed her a white box, and she accepted it with a smile. She turned around and saw Dawn run up to her Piplup in the middle of the stage.

"Piplup, nice work!" she told it, and the Pokémon smirked and stuck its chest out proudly. Lyra walked up to Lyra holding the box in her hand and grinned.

"Congratulations, Dane," she congratulated.

"Thanks, Lyra! Your Chikorita battled hard."

"Thank _you_," she replied, then held the box out to her. "Here." She plopped it in Dawn's hands, then turned to the audience and held her hand up. "And the big prize goes to our big winner, Dane! Go ahead Dane, open it."

"'Kay..." Dawn muttered, and pulled the box off the case, revealing underneath it, inside a rounded case, a bluish egg with a tan-colored bottom and a circle of red spots around it. When she saw what it was, she smiled widely.

"And as you can see, Dane's prize is a fabulous Pokémon Egg!" Lyra announced, and the audience once again started to cheer and clap for them.

"Awesome! An egg!" Dawn exclaimed, staring closely at the egg in her arms. After a moment, she turned to Lyra and smiled. "Thank you, Lyra!"

"Of course the question now is just what kind of Pokémon is inside that egg!" the brunette responded, then grinned. "You'll have to wait and see!" Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the whole festival, and Lyra and Dawn gasped and looked around, trying to find the cause of the explosion. In the distance, Lyra's brown eyes spotted something white rising into the sky, and saw that it was a hot air balloon in the shape of a Meowth's head. "Who in the world are they?" Inside the balloon's green basket was a duo. One was a woman with long red hair that reached out behind her and ended in a curl. The other was a man with long shoulder-length blue hair. Both of them were wearing a white outfit with a large red 'R' on the front of their shirts. In between them, standing on the edge of the basket was a white cat-like Pokémon standing on its hind legs, a Meowth. On the sides of the basket were bags of food from the festival, and the trio were eating it like there was no tomorrow.

"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted behind her, and Lyra's heart skipped a beat.

_Team Rocket?_ she thought to herself, her skin immediately growing cold from the thought as mental pictures of Annie and Oakley's faces flashed through her mind. _Did they follow me here?_

* * *

What... what is this? I-is this... an update? To Treasured Resonance? I can't believe it! :O Well, believe it. I finally got this chapter finished. It's about time. v-v I know, the hiatus went on longer than I thought, but I've been busy and stuff. But, I've finally completed the chapter, and I'll be able to continue updating now! I've gotten some of my spunk back for the story, so yay for me! XD

Anyways, if you couldn't already tell, this chapter is based off the events that went on in DP143: An Egg Scramble!. It needed to be done to tie in with the anime appearances. ^-^ I've been thinking to try and get these past couple of chapters done and over with sooner is to upload a chapter every week, so I think that's what I'm going to do. I'm not positive though, so if a new chapter doesn't come up _every single_ week, don't be surprised. XD

Thank you to all my reviewers, too! And thank you for reading everyone! It's you guys that help me keep writing, though I probably would still write without you. XD Anyways, next chapter, Lyra and everyone battle against Team Rocket. Could it be the same Team Rocket that almost killed Lyra back in Azalea Town? And will Lyra leave the Johto Festival now that her urges are wanting her to travel again? Find out next chapter! See you next update, guys! Thanks for reading/reviewing!


	33. Team Rocket, I Think?

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is loosely based on DP143: An Egg Scramble!. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 30**

"Team Rocket!" Ash shouted behind Lyra from the edge of the stage.

"Hey, that food's for the festival!" Khoury added, watching as they chowed down on the MooMoo Milk and Poffins. The girl of the group looked down and gasped when she saw them.

"Give back that food right now!" Tohmas ordered.

"So sorry, sap, but you're a dollar short and a day late!" the red-headed girl replied.

"Though I'll say the fiddle stays great!" the blue-haired male added.

"On the wind!"

"Past the stars!"

"Put your grub there, mate!" the Meowth said, and Lyra gasped at the fact that a Pokémon just spoke their language.

"Filling our tummies at a break-neck pace!" the girl chanted.

"Dashing hunger with a smile on my face."

"Go ahead and ask me if I've got milk," the girl muttered, holding up a jar of MooMoo Milk.

"We're members of the association's ilk!"

"Jessie!" the red-head cried.

"And James!" the other human added, both of them taking a bite of their food.

"Meowth's the name!" the Meowth finished.

"Putting the food-less in their place," Jessie continued.

"We're Team Rocket!"

"In your face!" all three of them chanted together. Finally, there was silence, and Lyra raised an eyebrow at the group.

"I thought that slapstick routine would never end!" she groaned.

"Brilliant prose is not measured in length, Twerpette, but in content!" the male shouted at her.

"Now now, big words will get you nowhere," Jessie lightly scolded, and looked down at them. "Besides, they're famished and we're not." As if to prove the point, she took a Poffin and stuck the whole thing in her mouth.

"Such beautiful words to live by!" James cried out, holding his arm over his eyes as if he were crying. Just then, Meowth gaped and looked at Dawn.

"Woah! Check out the Pokémon Egg on the glass!" he gasped, then took out some type of mechanical arm with a pink glove with three fingers on the end and held it up. "Dig! Bagging it for The Boss is a gap!" Suddenly, the glove sprang forward faster than Lyra could watch, and before they knew it, it had already wrapped its mechanical fingers around the egg case and was pulling it back to the balloon. The three on stage gasped as it was pulled back, and Dawn tried to catch it, but failed. "Dig it! The egg was calling my name; what could I say?"

"I say hooray!" James added.

"That's the way!" Jessie finished, then they all started waving as they floated away backwards.

"Have a nice day!" they all said in unison.

"My egg! No!" Dawn exclaimed as she watched them get away. Ash, Brock and Khoury jumped on stage as well and ran next to them.

"Give it back right now!" Ash ordered.

"In your dreams, Twerp!" they stated together. "Ciao!" However, the group wasn't watching where they were flying and their balloon flew right into the side of a huge pine tree that stood high above the others. The tree caught them, and also stabbed a hole in the back of the balloon. The paused for a minute, but suddenly, the hole ripped bigger and they were forced through the air, spinning around and around, screaming as loud as they could and holding on for dear life until they landed in the middle of the woods in the distance beyond the town.

"They went down in the forest!" Brock shouted.

"Let's get that egg back!" Ash declared, and him, Brock and Dawn all ran off to get it.

"Hey, I wanna come too! Wait!" Lyra cried, and started to run forward to try and catch up to them.

"Uh, what should I do..?" Khoury muttered, and hearing him, Lyra stopped in her tracks. "Good luck!" She grunted and turned around.

"You're coming with me and that's that!" she ordered. He flinched back nervously and looked at her, but eventually gave in and the two of them ran to catch up to everyone.

o 0 o

The group of five dashed through the path, keeping in mind the location of where Team Rocket's balloon had fell, and finally, after a bit of searching found their deflated balloon hanging from a tree. The balloon was empty, however, and the only thing that was around was an empty box that held food from the Johto Festival.

"Now where did they go?" Ash asked angrily, looking down at the box.

"They couldn't have gotten very far, that's for sure," Dawn replied. Lyra watched as Khoury looked around nervously in the trees around them, and she grunted and shoved his back slightly with her hand. When she did, he jumped up and faced her.

"Chill, Khoury. Get it together!" she told him. He smiled anxiously at her and put a hand behind his head.

"It's just that this forest is such a big place," he admitted, and added a nervous chuckle.

"Ash, let's split up and look," Brock suggested, and the black-haired boy nodded in response. The area the balloon was at was at a fork in the road, and the taller Trainer pointed in the direction towards the right path. "We'll head that way. And Khoury, you come with us."

"Right," the boy responded, nodding his head.

"So I guess that means Dane and I will head over this way," Lyra assumed, pointing to the left path. She then jabbed Khoury in the back with her elbow and he cried out in shock. "Buck up, man! You better pull it together, and fast!"

"Okay... I hear 'ya," he replied back. After the two finished bickering, Ash pulled out a Poké Ball from his belt and pressed the button in the middle.

"Staraptor, I choose you!" The ball burst open and the white light from inside pulled together and formed a large gray and white bird with a long gray and red-tipped crest coming out from the top of its head and over one of its eyes.

"Staraptor!" the Pokémon cried as it circled above them and waited for orders.

"Fly around and look for Team Rocket! I'm counting on 'ya!" Staraptor nodded, and took off to find the trio.

"Let's go, Dane!" Lyra urged.

"Right!" Dawn replied, and her, Lyra and Piplup all ran down the left path, leaving Khoury, Totodile, Ash, Pikachu and Brock behind to go down the other path. While running, they kept their eyes scanning around for the white-uniformed team.

_These Team Rocket members definitely aren't in the same league as the ones I encountered in Azalea Town,_ Lyra thought to herself, her head whipping back and forth. _These guys seem like idiots. The Team Rocket members I encountered were much worse than these three._ While she ran, she couldn't help but grin to herself slightly. _But, despite how grim the situation is, I can't help but think __about how exhilarating it is to be out in the wilderness again._ Suddenly, the PokéGear in her pocket began to ring, and she pulled it out and opened it.

"We've found them, Lyra," Khoury reported as his face appeared on the screen.

"Thanks, Khoury," she replied, and shut the device. "Dane, looks like they found them. Let's kick it into overdrive!"

"Do you know where they are?" the blue-haired girl asked her. Lyra smiled and gazed at her with her brown eyes.

"You leave everything to me," she assured her, then reached into her pocket and took out a Poké Ball. "Alright Marill, come on out!" She tossed the orb forward and it opened up. In seconds, her Marill appeared on the ground before them.

"Marill, mair!" the Pokémon cried, happy to be out of its Poké Ball. As Dawn and Piplup looked at her Pokémon, Lyra flipped her PokéGear open again and dialed Khoury's number.

"Khoury, position!" she told him once his face appeared on the screen.

"Gotcha," he responded, and the screen turned black once again. The brunette put her PokéGear back in her pocket and put her hand on her hip.

"Marill, use Water Gun and aim it toward the sky!" she instructed, pointing up into the air.

"Marill!" her Pokémon replied, and faced the sky. It then took in a deep breath and fired a stream of water from its mouth high into the sky. In response, another Water Gun shot on the other side of the forest high into the air. Dawn gasped when she saw this.

"Oh, I get it!" she muttered.

"'Kay Dane, let's move!"

"Right!" The four of them took off, and Marill fired off another Water Gun into the air. Responding to Marill's Water Gun, across the forest, Totodile fired off its own Water Gun, and the two went back and forth, one after the other as they ran across the forest. Finally, Lyra's PokéGear began to ring again, and she flipped it open.

"Checking in, Lyra!" Khoury told her as she answered. "We're getting close to Team Rocket. Ash's Staraptor has caught sight of them and we're closing in now."

"Great!" the brunette replied, and shut her machine and turned back to Dawn. "We're getting close, Dane!"

"Awesome," the girl answered. Soon enough, Dawn gasped and pointed over to a clearing beyond the trees to the left of them. Khoury, Ash and Brock had confronted two members of Team Rocket, the man and the Meowth. The man held Dawn's Pokémon Egg case in his arms, and both members turned around and started to run away from the boys. Quickly, Dawn and Lyra jumped in front of the path they were going to take with their arms outstretched.

"Hold it right there, thieves!" Lyra demanded, and both of them stopped at the same time.

"Give me back my Egg right now!" Dawn ordered.

"Piplup!" her Pokémon added.

"We're surrounded by twerps! The stench of it!" James muttered to Meowth, looking from Lyra and Dawn to Khoury, Ash and Brock.

"Let's battle 'em before they suck up all the air!" the Pokémon next to him said. James nodded and pulled a Poké Ball out from his belt.

"Carnivine, assistance!" he called, and tossed the Poké Ball forward. The orb opened up and a white light poured out from the inside of it. However, the light quickly dashed over and surrounded its Trainer, and as it faded, a large light green Pokémon with a large head appeared. It had a huge mouth with long green teeth, and it bit down on James's head, but it looked to be out of love. It also wrapped its long leafy arms around James's waist as he flailed and tried to get out of his grip. When the Pokémon bit down on James, he opened his arms and dropped the case, but Meowth caught it before it could hit the ground and placed it down beside him. "Ow! I could comb my own hair, thank you very much!" he screamed.

"Cool! A Carnivine!" Khoury exclaimed, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own Pokédex. The red device flipped open and he scanned the Pokémon in front of him. **"Carnivine, the Bug Catcher Pokémon. Carnivine latches onto trees in marshes and lures its prey with its sweet-smelling saliva."** Both Dawn and Lyra let out large sighs, and the brunette pulled the brim of her hat down slightly from embarrassment.

"Khoury, don't you think there are better times for that?" she asked as he put away the device. Finally, James managed to pry Carnivine off him and turned to Khoury, Ash and Brock.

"Carnivine, do the deed with Bullet Seed!" he commanded, and the Pokémon opened its huge mouth, firing a large amount of glowing seeds from its mouth at them. The seeds rained down over the group, and they put their arms up to protect their faces. "That's how it's done!" Suddenly, Totodile appeared out of the bushes beside the Pokémon Egg case and snatched it up. Releasing a cry of triumph, it ran towards Khoury just as James and Meowth noticed it was there.

"Poacher!" Meowth shouted after it as James cried out in surprise. Carnivine landed on the ground in front of them and stopped firing Bullet Seed, not noticing the case had been stolen. Ash laughed as Totodile ran up to its Trainer and placed the case down in front of him.

"Way to go, Totodile!" Khoury praised. Ash turned to the yellow Pokémon beside him and smirked.

"Your turn, Pikachu," he said. "Thunderbolt, let's go!"

"Piplup, use BubbleBeam!" Dawn commanded next to Lyra as well. Both Pokémon hopped into the air. Yellow electricity surrounded Pikachu's body and it fired a bolt of electricity from its body at the Team Rocket members while Piplup opened its beak and fired a stream of bubbles from it at the same target. Carnivine was hit by the electric attack and knocked backwards into James and Meowth, and all three of them cried out as they were electrocuted and hit with BubbleBeam at the same time.

"Totodile!" Khoury called as Pikachu and Piplup finished their attacks.

"Marill!" Lyra added.

"Use Water Gun!" they both ordered, and both Pokémon jumped into the air as well and both fired a spray of water from their mouths. The two attacks smashed into Team Rocket, and exploded, sending all of them flying through the air and out of view. As they all watched them fly off, Lyra and Dawn jogged up to get with them, and Dawn picked up her Pokémon Egg case.

"Well I guess that settles things," the brunette said.

"The egg's fine," Dawn reported after checking it out, then looked at Lyra. "Wow, what a relief." Suddenly, it made a strange noise and the entire egg flashed white three times. Each time it flashed, it made the same strange noise.

"And it's starting to glow!" Ash exclaimed.

"That means it's going to hatch soon," Brock explained.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Lyra gasped, clapping her hands together. "I've never seen a Pokémon Egg hatch before!"

"We should probably get back and tell Dad that we couldn't get the food back, but that we're okay," Khoury suggested, bringing Lyra's mind off the egg.

"Yeah, you're right," she replied, nodding. "Okay, let's go back."

o 0 o

And so, the group retraced their steps and got back into Floaroma Town. Once they got inside the town, it didn't take them long to get to the area where they were having the Festival. "Dad!" Khoury called when he saw the older man, and Lyra and Khoury ran up to him. Ash, Dawn and Brock followed behind them and they all explained to Tohmas what had happened, and how they couldn't bring the food back.

"I'm just glad you're all okay," Tohmas replied after they finished. Lyra and Khoury were on either side of him and Ash, Dawn and Brock were standing in front of them.

"Well you can thank Lyra for that," Ash told him, and Lyra smiled. Taking a deep breath, she turned and looked at Tohmas.

"I heard there's going to be a Pokémon Contest in Oreburgh City," she said. "I'd _really_ like to go." Dawn cocked her head in confusion, and to Lyra's surprise, Khoury ran out in front of his dad as well.

"Dad, I want something, too!" the midnight green-haired boy added.

"What's that?" Tohmas asked, and Khoury reached his arm out behind him to the three Trainers behind him.

"I'd really like to spend some time traveling around with Brock," Khoury told him, and it was Brock's turn to be surprised. Khoury turned around and looked the taller Breeder square in the eyes. "I wanna learn more about being a Pokémon Breeder, and you can teach me!"

"I see..." Tohmas muttered, smiling. He then looked at the three Trainers in front of him and placed both of his hands on Lyra and Khoury's shoulders. "Well would you all like to take these two along with you for a little while?"

"Sure!" Ash answered him, nodding. "That'd be fine."

"Alright!" Lyra and Khoury cheered, both of them jumping into the air in excitement.

"Lyra, that's great!" Dawn said, and Lyra jumped up to her friend and part-time traveling partner.

"It sure is, Dane!" she replied, and reached out and put her hands over Dawn's, who was still carrying the Pokémon Egg Case in her hands. "And now I'll get to see a _real_ Contest!" She laughed to herself, unable to contain her excitement. "I'm so looking forward to this!"

"Yeah! I look forward to it, too!" Dawn responded. Suddenly, the egg in the case began to glow brightly, making a humming sound as it did. However, the egg didn't flash this time; it just continued to glow. The girl looked down at the egg and gasped. "Could it be time already?" As the egg stopped glowing for a moment, Dawn placed the case down on the ground and took off the glass cover around it. The egg started to shake around and hum, then started to glow brighter than it ever had. The egg then grew bigger and white sparkles came off it as the egg started to form into a shape, and when the glow faded, a baby Cyndaquil was sitting in its place, lying on its back and waving its arms around, calling out excitedly.

"A Cyndaquil!" Dawn exclaimed as everyone gasped at the sight.

"Cyndaquil!" it cried, jumping up and looked up at Dawn. The blue-haired Trainer smiled at it.

"Hi!" she greeted, then bent down and picked it up. "Well come here!" As she stood up, she smiled at it in her arms, its back at her face. "Cyndaquil, it's nice to meetcha! My name is-" Suddenly, Cyndaquil sneezed, and the flames on its back lit up as it did. The girl screamed as the fire burst around her face, knocking her white hat off her head. Finally, the fire on its back faded and Dawn stood there and let out a single cough. When she did, black smoke came out of her mouth. The extreme heat had also caused her hair to puff out from its straightness, and it puffed out messily around her head like an Afro. "That's hot..." she muttered, and groaned. Everyone gasped at her, and not a single breath could be heard as they looked at her, and suddenly, everyone started laughing all at once. Even Marill, Piplup, Pikachu, and even Totodile were laughing at her. She stared at everyone, embarrassed, but shook it off and started laughing herself.

"Anyways, we should get our stuff ready to go," Lyra said to Khoury finally after wiping a tear from her eye. "I can help you pack if you want. I know what it's like to be on the road." Khoury nodded at her offer.

"Yeah, I'm just about to close up the Festival for the day, as well," Tohmas added. "The Festival's never been so popular! People even came from Jubilife City so they could visit us again! I've decided I'm gonna stay in Floaroma Town for a couple days since business is booming."

"That's great, Dad!" Khoury replied, smiling widely at his father.

"Yeah, it really is! I'm so happy for you!" Lyra added, grinning from ear to ear as well. Tohmas nodded his head at them as thanks, then turned around to talk with other staff members. The others walked up to her and Khoury, and they started to walk to the Pokémon Center.

"Lyra, I had no idea you wanted to come with us," Dawn commented, her Piplup on her head and Cyndaquil in her arms.

"Of course, Dane! I've always wanted to see a real Pokémon Contest, but never really had the time to," she replied.

"Lyra used to travel around Johto by herself until she came across us at Goldenrod City," Khoury informed them.

"That's awesome. But it must be so much fun to travel around with the Johto Festival. I bet you've seen so many different places and Pokémon!" Ash said excitedly.

"Yeah, I have. It's been a blast," Lyra responded, smiling at the boy's enthusiasm. As they walked, she saw the sun had turned a deep orange and was starting to set, and she grinned to herself. She was excited for the next day. She couldn't wait to start traveling again.

* * *

Okay, well, this was a kinda short chapter, but it's better than nothing! Lyra's decided to travel with Dawn and the gang to go to a Pokémon Contest, and surprisingly, Khoury's volunteered to come along as well. I hope he can get some tips – and confidence – from Brock.

Yeah, these Team Rocket members definitely aren't in the same league as the ones Lyra encountered back in Azalea Town. These ones are just morons. Anybody else hate what the anime did to Jessie and James after the voices changed? They made them a group of moron who rhyme words that are borderline Dr. Seuss. It's really annoying. I'm so glad their roles changed in Black and White and now they're hardly shown anymore. I was getting really tired of them.

I'd also like to take a moments to thank my reviewers! Thank you so much! :D

So, next chapter, while the group are taking a break from traveling, Marill wanders off, as usual. However, she wanders into a building called the Valley Windworks, which is heavily guarded by Electric-type Pokémon. When the gang finds her, they become trapped themselves! Will they get out, or will they have to spend the rest of their lives in a small room? Find out next chapter! Thanks for reading/reviewing, guys, and I'll see you next chapter!


	34. Gone with the Windworks!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is loosely based on DP144: Gone with the Windworks!. Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 31**

After a great supper at the Pokémon Center, everyone had mutually decided to start traveling to Oreburgh City in the morning. Brock suggested that they take the long way around so that Lyra and Khoury can see more of the Sinnoh region. Dawn was hesitant because she didn't want to miss her Contest, but the Pokémon Breeder assured her that they had plenty of time. And so, after dinner and depositing their Pokémon for a rest in the Center, everyone headed in for the night.

The next morning, Lyra was up bright and early, excited to start traveling. Her and Khoury had stayed up for a while packing a backpack filled with the necessary traveling equipment they needed. Despite being nervous yesterday about even going out into the woods, Khoury seemed really excited to head out on their own. It was nice to see Khoury happy for a change.

So, the two grabbed their filled backpacks and headed out to the lobby. Ash, Dawn and Brock were already in there, ready to start their day of traveling. Tohmas was there as well, talking with them. When they saw Lyra and Khoury, they grinned at them.

"Good morning, everyone!" Lyra greeted, and everyone said hi back. "We're ready whenever you are. When do you want to head out?"

"We're all ready, too. Why don't we head out now?" Ash suggested, and Lyra nodded.

"Well, you two, good luck," Tohmas said, lightly clapping his hand on Lyra's shoulder. He looked up at Ash, Dawn and Brock and grinned at them. "Don't let these two cause _too_ much trouble now, okay?"

"They'll be fine," Ash replied back, laughing.

"No need to worry!" Dawn added. Tohmas laughed lightly in response, and looked down at Khoury.

"I'll give you a call on the PokéGear when I'm packing up on the final day and getting ready to get on the blimp in Jubilife City. That should give you guys enough time to travel around," he told him, and Khoury nodded.

"Sounds good, Dad," the boy replied. Suddenly, Tohmas pulled him into a hug, and Khoury smiled and hugged him back.

"I'm proud of you, Son," he muttered. Khoury blushed, but a smile slowly stretched across his face.

"Thanks, Dad."

o 0 o

"It really feels good to get my leg muscles moving again," Lyra admitted as they walked through Route 205. "It's a little cramped up sitting behind a booth for so long."

"I hear 'ya. I wouldn't know what to do with myself," Ash replied, laughing and putting a hand behind his head. Pikachu nodded in reply as well. As they walked, the group seemed to split into two. Khoury and Brock were talking about everything from Pokémon Food recipes to their favorite type of Pokémon. Khoury seemed happy to have encountered another Pokémon Breeder finally. Lyra, Dawn and Ash walked ahead of them, and were talking casually about raising their Pokémon. Suddenly, a low-pitched grumble sounded, and made Lyra stop in her tracks.

"What's that noise?" she asked, looking in the trees and bushes around the path to see if there was a wild Pokémon. However, Dawn laughed nervously and looked up at her Piplup, who looked embarrassed as well.

"That was Piplup's stomach," the blue-haired girl informed her. "Are you hungry Piplup?"

"Pip," the Pokémon replied, nervously nodding its head.

"What about you, Cyndaquil?" she asked the Pokémon walking beside her. The Fire Mouse Pokémon pulled its head up to look at her, and nodded its head.

"Then why don't we stop for lunch," Brock suggested, walking up behind them, hearing their conversation about food.

"Sounds good, right Marill?" Lyra asked her Pokémon, and the Aqua Mouse Pokémon agreed, jumping down from the perch on its Trainer's arm onto the ground. Totodile jumped down next to it and looked at Khoury, waiting for its food as well.

"Hey Brock, can you show me how to crush up the Chesto Berry again?" Khoury asked him.

"Sure!" the Pokémon Breeder answered, putting down his backpack and taking out the necessary ingredients for the Pokémon food. He pulled out five plastic bowls, too, and filled them up with the right kind of Pokémon food for all the Pokémon that were out of their Poké Balls already. Everyone dropped their bags by Brock's and handed their Pokémon each a bowl. Marill was hesitant at first, but after taking a little bite of Brock's food, it loved it and started chowing down.

"How's that? Good, Marill?" Lyra asked the Pokémon, and it nodded with a mouthful. She giggled to herself and petted its head. Looking over to her left, she saw Dawn place down Cyndaquil's bowl of food. The Pokémon cheered excitedly and started to eat while she kneeled down to watch it. Lyra walked over and kneeled down on the other side of Cyndaquil. "Now since Cyndaquil was hatched from the egg _I_ gave you, you know it's a sweetie pie."

"Well, judging from that appetite, it's doing just fine," Brock replied.

"That's for sure," Khoury added, smiling at the baby Pokémon. Meanwhile, behind Dawn, Piplup finished eating its food and trotted over next to the blue-haired girl. Dawn giggled when she saw it approach.

"Piplup, won't you say hello to our new family member Cyndaquil?" she asked it.

"Lup!" the Penguin Pokémon answered, placing its wing on its chest proudly before walking closer to Cyndaquil with a warm smile on its face. "Piplup!" it greeted, sticking out its wing to shake its hand. Cyndaquil looked up at Piplup, pausing in mid-bite, and turned around, looking away from the Pokémon and laying on the ground. Piplup let out a gasp of horror as Cyndaquil rejected it. Both girls blinked at the scene, and Piplup shook its head and tried again, walking around it in between Lyra and Cyndaquil and walking around to the other side of it. Once again, it stuck out its wing to shake its hand, but Cyndaquil grunted and turned back around, continuing to eat the food in front of it. And again, Piplup gasped on horror, its beak hanging open at being rejected. This time, Piplup cried out, flailing its arms in the air. It had enough and reached its head forward, jabbing its beak into Cyndaquil's backside a couple times.

"Cyndaquil!" the Fire Mouse Pokémon cried out, jumping into the air and holding its backside in pain while Piplup laughed and pointed at Cyndaquil. The Fire-type Pokémon didn't like this very much, and ran up to Piplup, jabbing it multiple times with its own nose in the backside. Piplup jumped up in pain, and quickly turned around. The two Pokémon collided and tried to shove each other down, shoving against each other as hard as they could. During the fight, everyone's Pokémon had finished eating, and Ash's Pikachu jumped in between them and separated them. It tried to talk to them, but the two Pokémon looked away from each other angrily, causing the Mouse Pokémon to let out a sigh in hopelessness. Dawn and Lyra stood up, and the blue-haired Coordinator placed her hands on her hips.

"You two need to learn to get along," she told them.

"Hey Dawn, I know!" Ash brought up, walking up to the group. "Let's have a Pokémon battle."

"A Pokémon battle?" Dawn repeated, not too sure about the suggestion.

"Uh-huh! We'll find out a whole bunch about Cyndaquil's personality, and that'll be a big help," he explained.

"You're right! Okay," she replied, then turned and looked down at her Pokémon. "Cyndaquil, wanna battle?"

"Cyndaquil!" it cried happily, raising its arms excitedly.

"We should find a more bigger area to do it, though," Brock told them, looking around. "Let's walk a little more up the path. There should be a clearing around here."

"Well, c'mon! Let's go!" she urged, and, after picking up her backpack, walked up the path with Marill trotting behind her. The others picked up theirs and followed her. They walked for a bit longer before they reached an up-slope in front of the building with a large clearing that would be perfect for battling. Lyra and Khoury stepped off to the side with Totodile, Piplup, Marill and Pikachu beside them. Dawn and Ash faced each other, leaving a big area between them, and the Coordinator placed her Cyndaquil in front of her. Brock stepped out beside them to act as the referee. Finally, when they were ready to begin, Ash pulled out a Poké Ball from his belt and pressed the button in the center to enlarge it.

"Alright, here's the Pokémon I'm gonna use! Grotle, I choose you!" The Poké Ball spun in the air for a bit before opening up and releasing a waterfall of white energy out from inside it. The energy faded as it took shape.

"Grotle!" it called. The Pokémon standing in front of Ash was mostly green and yellow, and resembled a turtle with a yellow shell. It had a brown stripe running down the middle of its back, and on either side of the shell were two thick bushes. After seeing Ash's selection, Dawn took out her Pokédex and pointed it at Cyndaquil.

"Let's see what moves Cyndaquil can use," she muttered, pressing a button on the touch screen of the Pokédex. **"Cyndaquil is able to use the following moves: Flame Wheel, Swift, and SmokeScreen."** After hearing the attacks, Dawn nodded. "Awesome! Those are some great moves right off!"

"Dawn, ready to go?" Ash asked her.

"You bet, Ash!" she replied, and right away, the Pokémon Trainer commanded his first attack.

"Alright! Grotle, use Razor Leaf!" he commanded. Right away, the Pokémon reared up on its hind legs and slammed them on the ground in front of it. It then swung its head, and multiple dark green leaves shot out from the bushes on its back, each one heading towards Cyndaquil. The Pokémon effortlessly jumped over the leaves as they hit the ground where it stood seconds before.

"Now Cyndaquil, use Flame Wheel!" Dawn called as the Pokémon flew through the air. Releasing a battle cry, Cyndaquil lit up the flames on its back and started spinning its body like a wheel in mid-air. The fire on its back started to spin along with it, enveloping it in fire. It then spun forward, shooting down right towards Grotle and slamming into it as hard as it could. The Grass-type Pokémon took the attack and lowered its head, but was dragged backwards from the powerful attack. When Cyndaquil couldn't push Grotle any more, it leaped back and the flames around it disappeared as it landed on the ground.

"Hey, that was a great Flame Wheel, Cyndaquil!" Ash complimented, waving to it. "You ought to be proud!"

"Cynda!" the Pokémon happily replied, jumping into the air and waving its arms giddily.

"So now, check out this move! Grotle, Energy Ball!" The Pokémon opened its mouth and the bushes on its back started to glow white as a green orb of energy formed in front of its mouth. It then fired the green energy ball at Cyndaquil, and the Pokémon once again effortlessly dodged the ball as it exploded upon contact with the ground.

"Alright Cyndaquil! Use Swift!" Dawn ordered. Cyndaquil threw its head back, then shot it forward. The inside of its mouth started to glow gold as it did, and multiple golden stars shot out of its mouth. Grotle ducked its head, preparing itself, and the stars hit their target. Grotle managed to hold its position for a bit before it was knocked back by the last star. Dawn's Cyndaquil landed on the ground as Grotle regained its posture.

"Woah, Dawn's Cyndaquil is unbelievably agile!" Brock commented.

"It really _is_ light on its feet!" Lyra added with her hands behind her head.

"Awesome! And for a first battle, nonetheless," Khoury also said.

"Let's keep it up, Grotle!" Ash continued. "Razor Leaf, let's go!" Like before, Grotle waved its head and multiple spinning leaves shot out from the bushes on its back straight at Cyndaquil. The results were the same as well, as, faster than lightning, Cyndaquil jumped high into the air, dodging the attack with hardly any effort at all. When the dust that was kicked up from the attack cleared, Dawn looked up at Cyndaquil with a smirk on her face.

"Now Cyndaquil, SmokeScreen!" she commanded. The Pokémon obeyed and opened its mouth, releasing a thick black smoke from its mouth. The smoke came out as a stream, but when the stream hit the ground directly below it, it puffed out all around the middle of the battlefield. Grotle gasped as Cyndaquil landed and disappeared behind the SmokeScreen. "Now follow it with Swift!" Opening its mouth, Cyndaquil fired a barrage of spinning yellow stars from its mouth straight into the SmokeScreen. On the other side, Grotle couldn't see the attack coming until the stars burst through the smoke and hit it square in the face. The Pokémon looked towards the ground as it let the top of its head that was covered in its shell take the attack, but it was knocked backwards. It fell onto its back, but flipped back around.

"Nice one!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Hold on..." Ash muttered, smirking, then pointed forward. "Grotle, use Rock Climb now!" Wasting no time, Grotle reared up on its hind legs and the claws on its front feet started to glow white and extended. It then slammed its front legs down on the ground and a line of rocks jutted out from the ground one after the other right at Cyndaquil. The little Pokémon didn't know what was going on as the rocks rose up, and finally, one final rock rose up underneath it. However, this rock was much bigger and more like a small mountain. The Fire Mouse Pokémon waved its arms to regain its balance as the mountain carried it up in the air. No sooner had the mountain carried it up, Grotle charged after it, its claws still glowing and extended. The back ones were also glowing as well, and they seemed to dig into the ground as Grotle ran up the side of the mountain so it wouldn't slide down. Finally, Grotle reached Cyndaquil and lurched forward, slamming its body into it. Cyndaquil called out as it fell backwards and landed on the ground, and the mountains and rocks that had jutted out quickly sunk back into the ground as the glow faded from Grotle's claws.

"Cyndaquil, no! Are you okay?" Dawn asked it.

"Quil!" her Pokémon replied, and jumped back up on its feet. "Cyndaaaaa!" Cyndaquil cried, lighting up the fire on its back as it became more pumped. However, Brock stepped forward.

"Okay! That's it!" he called, and the flames on Cyndaquil's back disappeared as it looked at Brock. Brock walked up to Dawn to explain, since she had a confused look on her face as well. "Since it's Cyndaquil's first battle, let's take it easy." Hearing that the battle was over, Piplup trotted up to the battlefield, but Dawn and Cyndaquil walked over to where Lyra and Khoury were standing.

"Cyndaquil, you were great!" Dawn congratulated, looking down and grinning at it.

"You battled well," Brock agreed.

"Yeah! You were so cool!" Khoury added.

"You were! And for your first battle, you really worked out there!" Lyra praised. Dawn reached into her pocket and pulled out a round pink cookie-like food, and kneeled down to Cyndaquil's level.

"Here! And here's your favorite Poffin as a reward!" she said.

"Cyn! Cyndaquil!" the Pokémon cheered, but suddenly, Piplup charged forward, jumping in between Cyndaquil and Dawn's hand and snatching up the Poffin in its beak while pushing Cyndaquil backwards at the same time. Piplup landed and chewed up the Poffin in its beak while the others looked on strangely.

"Piplup! Now what was that for?" the Coordinator exclaimed, but Piplup put its flippers on its hip and turned its head. Angry for stealing its food, Cyndaquil lit the fire on its back and jumped forward, slamming its body into Piplup's back and knocking it down. The Penguin Pokémon got right back up and jumped at Cyndaquil, kicking it with one of its feet. The two went back and forth with hitting each other before it turned into an all-out brawl between the two. Dawn rushed up to the two and looked nervously at the scuffle. "You stop that fighting right now! Or else... no dinner!" Right away, the two stopped fighting, but their heads were pressed against each other and they glared at each other, each of them not giving up their fight. Once again, Pikachu jumped in between them and separated them.

"Guess nothing's ever easy, right?" Lyra asked Dawn, walking up to her and placing her hands behind her head.

"Hold on..." Khoury muttered behind them. "Hey Lyra, where's Marill?" Right away, Lyra turned around and looked at Khoury, who was looking around for the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.

"Huh? You mean Marill's not around?" she asked. Khoury shrugged and looked at her.

"I don't see it anywhere," he told her, and she looked around nervously.

"I hope Marill hasn't wandered off _again,_" she muttered.

"In any case, let's go around and call it. It couldn't have gotten very far," Brock suggested, and Lyra nodded, walking over to the area next to them where there was a field of tall grass. Ash recalled his Grotle into its Poké Ball and the rest of them followed.

"Marill? Marill!" Lyra called, separating a tall patch of grass to see if her Pokémon was behind it. But it wasn't. She let out a big sigh as Ash and Dawn called out Marill's name as well. "Marill, where'd you go this time?" She scanned her eyes across the area to see if she could see blue, and suddenly her eyes locked on something running up the slope that lead up to a clearing with a group of telephone wires. It wasn't Marill that she spotted, but Piplup. She stopped and watched as Piplup and Dawn's Cyndaquil raced up the hill and jumped up to the top, bumping into each other and falling on the ground below. "Hey Dane! Piplup and Cyndaquil just ran up there!" Dawn turned her head and looked in the direction that Lyra was pointing in. The others heard as well, and everyone turned and walked up the slope to get to them. As they did, Khoury pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled his Totodile so they would have one less Pokémon to worry about.

"What's that?" Ash asked as they looked at the building in front of them. It was a large area composed of many buildings. It was blocked off by a stone fence, and there were many electrical towers connected by wires around it as well. In the back of the building, there were large wind generators spinning in the gentle breeze. Khoury took out his PokéGear to try and find the name.

"It's the Valley Windworks," he told them.

"Oh, the Valley Windworks!" Ash said, remembering the name as Khoury said it. Lyra gasped and clasped her hands together in front of her nervously.

"Marill might have gone in there," she muttered.

"Then let's check it out," the spiky-haired Trainer responded. Worried about her Pokémon, Lyra walked on ahead of everyone else as they walked down the path and got to the gate.

"Marill?" she called, as they passed through the front gates. Behind her, Dawn also called for the Aqua Mouse Pokémon, and they looked around the area for traces of blue. Suddenly, Lyra stopped in her tracks and gasped as she saw Marill disappear around the corner of the entrance of the main building. "There!" she shouted, and suddenly the automatic front doors closed. Once again, Lyra gasped and ran forward. "Marill!"

"Lyra, wait!" Khoury called as she ran on ahead, and the group followed her, running faster to try and catch up to her. Finally, they walked inside, and as the doors shut behind them, Piplup ran into Cyndaquil, though they weren't sure if it was an accident or not, and when the Fire-type fell, the Penguin Pokémon laughed cruelly. Before Dawn could scold it, however, its laugh was interrupted by an electrical shock that came from around the corner. The shock zapped Piplup and it fell to the ground, dazed.

"Piplup! No!" the Coordinator gasped, and suddenly, two round silver Pokémon with two magnets on either side of its body floated towards them.

"Magnemite!" Khoury exclaimed as he saw them.

"Hey, maybe they're here to guard the Windworks," Brock guessed as Piplup slowly got up. As he said this, one of the Magnemite's body became surrounded in yellow electricity and it fired an electricity beam from its body straight at the group. Everyone screamed and turned around, running down the right hallway as fast as they could to get away from the ThunderShock. They ran as fast as they could to get away from them as they went back and forth using ThunderShock, and then two more Magnemite joined them.

"We gotta get out of here!" Lyra screamed as the four charged up another electric attack. Suddenly, Dawn grabbed her arm and she whipped her head around, seeing that someone had found a door to the right of them. They quickly jumped inside, falling all over each other as they stumbled in. They groaned for a bit as the door closed behind them, and slowly sat up and looked at their surroundings. Lyra saw that the floor was carpeted with a deep pink colored carpet. When she looked up, she saw a man sitting in front of a large computer made up of many little monitors. Each monitor showed a different section of the inside of the Windworks. However, the man, who seemed to be a little older and was balding, had his head down so his chin was touching his chest.

"Where are we?" Dawn asked, then noticed the man in the chair. The group was silent as they knew for sure that he heard them, but in the silence, they could hear him slightly breathing heavily to himself, as if he was snoring lightly. Suddenly, the man's head rose slightly, and he turned and looked at them.

"Now what are you kids doing in here?" he asked, rubbing one of his squinted eyes. Everyone stood up and Lyra spoke up to explain.

"Uh, sorry we came in without permission," she apologized. "See, my Pokémon wandered away, and I saw it come inside the Windworks." The man stood up and scratched his gray mustache as she told him.

"Oh, Pokémon, eh?" he replied.

"Yes, sir. Marill." The man gestured to the computer monitors beside him with his hand.

"Alright. These monitors will give you a perfect view of every inch of this building," he told them. Suddenly, the door behind them opened up, and two Magnemite floated in and surrounded themselves in electricity. Everyone cried out in surprise at the two Magnemite's surprise entrance, and awaited to be shocked. However, the man held out his arm. "No! Hold on! These young people don't mean any harm!" The electricity around the Magnemite's body faded right away and they looked at the man, and everyone let out a big sigh. After, Lyra rushed up to the computer monitors and started looking at each one to try and find Marill.

"Let's see..." she muttered, and suddenly her brown eyes caught movement in the upper-right monitor, and she saw Marill walking into a room. "Marill!"

"Ah! That's the Basement Storage Room," he told them.

"'Kay, let's go now!" Ash said, and everyone nodded and ran out of the room. As the two Magnemite were floating away with them, the man held out his hand at them.

"Hold on," he stated, and the two Magnemite turned around and looked at him. "Magnemite, make sure you don't attack them while they're down there in the basement." The man put his hand down and behind his back. "Please inform the other Magnemite as well."

"Magnemite," they replied, turning and floating out the door. Lyra overheard him telling them this as she approached the door, and turned around, smiling nervously at him.

"Thanks so much," she thanked. "We'll leave when we find Marill. You can count on us!" The man smiled at her and sat back down in the chair in front of the computer, waving to her.

"Make it quick!" he replied. "So for now, I'll just get back to that nap."

"Right," Lyra responded, and darted out into the hallway and went in the direction the others went.

o 0 o

Lyra finally caught up with the group, and, using a map that was hung up on the inside of the main floor, the Trainers all found their way down to the basement. After a little bit of searching, they finally came across the room that they had seen Marill go inside. The 'Basement Storage Room' was a good name for it, as there were many unneeded objects left in there, such as wooden planks and cardboard and wooden boxes on shelves. "Marill!" Lyra called to her Pokémon as she ran into the room.

"Marill!" Brock also called. Ash and Dawn walked up to a large shelf and started looking behind the boxes on there. Lyra walked behind them, looking behind a stack of cardboard boxes on the other side. Suddenly, she gasped as she spotted the Aqua Mouse Pokémon crouching behind them, and started to laugh as she found her Pokémon. Hearing her Trainer, Marill turned around and reached its arms up.

"Marill!" it cried happily, and Lyra reached down and picked up her Pokémon, hugging it tightly.

"I told you not to wander off by yourself!" she scolded, but continued to hug Marill. The Pokémon let out an apologetic but happy reply.

"That's a relief," Dawn said. "Now let's get out of here." Lyra nodded, as her Marill turned around in her arms so it could face forward, and they started to walk out when suddenly, the door closed and the lights began to flicker. Everyone looked up at the lights and they went out, leaving the room pitch black.

"Now what?" Lyra heard Ash ask next to her. They waited in the dark for a few seconds before the lights turned back on as quickly as they went out.

"Okay, that was weird," the brunette commented, and walked forward to walk out the door. However, the doors didn't open when she approached. "Huh? The doors won't open."

"Let me try," Ash suggested, and stepped forward. Once again, the doors didn't open, and he walked up to them and tried to pry them open with his fingers.

"What in the world?" Brock asked as the spiky-haired Trainer struggled with them.

"Nothing!" Ash muttered.

"The door?" Dawn questioned, asking for a report.

"Yeah, it won't even move!" he grunted as he continued to try and open the door. Dawn gasped at his response.

"It's possible that the power outage might have caused a full lock-down," Brock speculated, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Oh no! Does that mean we can't get out of here?" Khoury questioned nervously. Suddenly, two voices could be heard squeaking on the other side of the door, and Dawn gasped and stepped forward.

"Piplup! Is that you?" she asked, and Piplup started banging on the door. "Hang in there, okay?"

"Let's try using electricity on the door to see if it will charge it back up," Ash suggested, and everyone moved to the back of the room, leaving space for Ash and Pikachu in the front. "Pikachu, aim your Thunderbolt at the door!"

"Piiikkkaa..." Pikachu muttered, gathering electricity. Its cheeks started to spark with yellow electricity, and it fired a beam of electricity from its body at the door. As Pikachu ended the attack, the group ran up to the door to see if the electricity brought it back to life again, but nothing happened.

"Zip," Ash mumbled under his breath.

"I've got it!" Brock brought up, then turned his head towards the security camera in the corner of the room. "Let's wave at the security camera!" So, everyone crowded around the front of the camera hanging down from the ceiling and started to wave their arms in the air at it. Even Marill in Lyra's arms, cried out and waved its arms. It was all they _could_ do.

* * *

Here's a question I've always wondered: why do people always hire old people or people who sleep a lot to be security people? That's probably not a good idea, especially if things like this happened. Jeez...

Anyways, I'm glad to think that I'm starting to get my motivation for this story back! :D Let's just hope it lasts until the Johto League, huh? XD Oh Marill, you really need to stop wandering off on your own. v-v Seriously. Though I keep seeming it hard to include Marill in things. I always remembering I forgot to add her when I'm reading over the chapter and jump in to add her, haha. Not much you can really do with a small Pokémon that doesn't say anything other than 'Marill, Mair', right? XD

Also, I'm taking this moment to thank my readers and reviewers! Thank you very much everyone! It's you guys that help me keep writing!

Now, next chapter, we find out if the group finds a way out of the Basement Storage Room, or will the security guard go home without even seeing them trapped? Find out next chapter! Thank you so much for reading/reviewing, and I'll see you next chapter!


	35. Dungeon Capture? The Valley Windworks!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is loosely based off DP144: Gone with the Windworks! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 32**

"Do you think maybe no one's in the security room anymore?" Dawn asked as the group lowered their arms after five minutes, but seemed like an hour, of waving at the security camera.

"Or do you think he's still napping?" Brock added.

"Man, that's all we need," Ash muttered, rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands.

"Guess we have no choice but to wait," Lyra sighed.

"What are we gonna do if he _never_ sees us?" Khoury questioned next to her. The brunette turned her head and looked angrily at him.

"C'mon Khoury; what are you talking about?" He suddenly held his head and gasped, his face turning into a mask of horror.

"What if that security guard leaves without noticing us and goes off on a long vacation or something?" he exclaimed as his nerves started to get the best of him. "That means one thing: we're gonna be stuck in this tiny room... for the rest of our lonely, frustrated and pathetic little lives!"

"For some reason, I think a positive-thinking course would do a world of good for Khoury, y'know?" Lyra muttered, putting her hands behind her head and letting out an embarrassed sigh at his yelling. Ash ignored him and turned his head to Brock.

"There's got to be a way," he said positively, and the older Trainer looked around the room in thought. Suddenly, his squinted eyes caught something and he gasped.

"Ash, up there!" he stated. "Is that a ventilation shaft?" Next to the security camera, there was a small metal covering in the wall, and it was wide, but not very tall.

"That's it!" Ash exclaimed, then smirked. "Okay, let me check this out." Brock turned around and looked at Dawn, Lyra and Khoury.

"Let's try and get all the boxes and crates against that wall so Ash can climb up them to get to it," he suggested. The three nodded and quickly did as they were told. The seriousness of the predicament was getting to them, and they were all completely silent as they worked. Finally, they gathered up enough wooden crates to stack on top of each other and, with Brock and Khoury holding the boxes for support, the spiky-haired Trainer was able to slowly climb up them. "Be careful, Ash."

"Right," he replied back as he reached the top. While trying to keep his balance, he started to fiddle with the metal vent. Pikachu muttered nervously to itself. "Don't worry, I'm fine!" Meanwhile, Dawn and Lyra had moved to the other side of the room and leaned against a shelf. Marill was on the floor watching the boys with the crates. Lyra had her arms up behind her head as she watched them.

"I guess if we're gonna spend the rest of our lives in here, we'll all get married here!" Lyra brought up, slightly as a joke. Dawn looked at Lyra through the corner of her eyes with a confused look on her face. "I've got three choices." Dawn turned her head completely and faced Lyra.

"Um, what are you talking about?" she asked.

"Khoury? He's out of the question," Lyra continued, ignoring Dawn's question. However, she turned her head and looked at the girl beside her. "Hey Dane, is Ash your boyfriend?" Dawn suddenly gasped in surprise and raised her hands in protest.

"Ash? N-no way!" she exclaimed, and Lyra turned to look at the boy.

"Ash _is_ quite a catch, don't you think?" she asked her.

"Really?" Lyra put her arms down and sneered at the blue-haired girl.

"C'mon, if you had to choose between the three, who would it be?" she asked her. Dawn's eyebrows pulled together as she thought about Lyra's question, and leaned back against the bookcase, putting a finger to her chin and looking at the ceiling in thought.

"Uh, never thought of it..." she muttered.

"Wow Dane, I would think that's the _first_ thing you'd be thinking about," the brunette added. Just then, Ash finally got the cover off the vent and placed it down on the box beside him.

"Super narrow. I definitely won't fit in there," he commented, looking inside.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu called below him, and the Trainer turned around and looked down at his Pokémon. "Pikachu, pika!"

"Huh? Pikachu, are you saying _you'll_ go in?" Ash clarified. Pikachu nodded and ran up the boxes to get up to Ash, then jumped up on his shoulder and jumped inside the vent. "Tell the security guard we're locked in." With a nod, Pikachu took off inside it, disappearing from view. "You can do it!" Ash stood for a little bit and waited for Pikachu's footsteps to stop echoing, then turned around and climbed down the pile of boxes. "Now we just have to wait for Pikachu to go to the security guard's room and wake him up." Everyone gathered near the door again and listened as Pikachu popped out of the vent above the door on the other side. Through the door, Piplup and Cyndaquil could be heard arguing, but after a metal shaking sounded above them, Pikachu's voice could be heard talking to them, then they all quieted down as they went out to look for the security room.

After they couldn't hear the Pokémon anymore, Ash grumbled to himself and turned around. "Okay everyone, let's move to the back of the room," he stated. Without any objections, everyone backed up until their backs were against the wall in the back, and Ash stepped forward, pulling out a Poké Ball. "Alright! Grotle, I choose you!" The ball opened in mid-air and released a white light before coming back to Ash. As the light faded, the Grass-type Pokémon stood in the middle of the room. "Now let's see if Grotle can open that door."

"But wait, Pikachu just went to let the security guard know we're trapped," Lyra reminded.

"Yeah, but I'm still thinking we should try everything," Ash responded. "See, I'm not such a big fan of waiting around." When he turned back to Grotle, Lyra laughed to herself.

"Ash is such a dependable guy," she said, and turned to Dawn and sneered. "Don't you think, Dane?" The girl just looked at her with a confused look on her face.

"Grotle, Energy Ball, let's go!" Ash commanded, and right away, the bushes on Grotle's back started to glow white. It then opened its mouth and formed a green orb of energy in front of it, then swung its head and fired the Energy Ball at the door in front of it. The ball made contact with the door, shaking the whole room, but it bounced off the metal and shot right back at Ash and Grotle. Ash yelled out as he jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. The Energy Ball then hit the wall behind him and bounced all around the metal room. Everyone jumped about to avoid being hit with the attack, and finally, it hit the shelf that Lyra and Dawn had leaned against, exploding.

"That was a close one," Lyra commented as she stared at the remains of the shelf from her position on the floor. Everyone stood back up and Ash grumbled to himself as he reached on his belt and pulled out Grotle's Poké Ball.

"Grotle, return!" he said, and a red beam shot out and hit Grotle, making the Grass-type Pokémon turn red and sucking it back into the Poké Ball. When it was inside, Ash looked at the Poké Ball disappointingly. "So much for Grotle's Energy Ball..." Just then, Lyra got an idea and raised her hand.

"Hey! Give me a shot!" Lyra exclaimed, and pulled out a Poké Ball of her own from her pocket. "Alright Girafarig, come on out and use Double Hit on that locked door now!" The Long Neck Pokémon burst out of the Poké Ball and, after releasing a cry, bounced off the floor and jumped at the door. Just then, both of its front hooves started to glow purple and it rammed them into the door as hard as it could. However, the attack was repelled and it bounced off the door, the glow on its hooves fading away. "No use..." the girl muttered as Girafarig landed on the floor in front of it. The brunette then turned to Khoury, who was standing next to her and Marill. "Khoury, give it a try." The midnight-green haired boy put his hands up in protest at her suggestion, however.

"Believe me, if _your_ Pokémon couldn't open it, my Pokémon won't be any help at all!" Lyra frowned at him and crossed her arms, glaring at him from the corner of her eyes.

"You're always so negative. Drives me crazy," she told him. After huffing, Lyra pointed Girafarig's Poké Ball at it and recalled it. "Sorry you couldn't open it Girafarig. Great job, though." After the Long Neck Pokémon was safely inside its Poké Ball, Ash looked over and saw a chisel in the rubble of the shelf that Grotle had accidentally destroyed with its Energy Ball, and rushed over to pick it up. Without saying another word, he jammed the flat end of it into the crevice between the doors and pushed as hard as he could to try and get the door opened. "Ash, what are you doing?"

"Pikachu's doing the best it can to help us, but I can't sit around and wait," he grumbled as he pushed at the same time.

"So determined!" Lyra commented.

"Truth is, determination is one of Ash's best attributes after all," Brock told her, and Lyra smiled.

"Khoury, you could learn a thing or two from that guy, y'know?" She then turned and looked at him through the corner of her eyes. "He _has_ won seven Badges."

"Come on! Why bother trying to do the impossible?" he asked. Before she could reply, Ash cried out and the chisel dropped to the floor with a loud metal sound that echoed in the small room, and he held his hand in pain. Lyra gasped and was about to step forward and see if he was okay, but Dawn spoke up and stopped her.

"Nah, don't worry," she told Lyra. "A little bit of pain's not stopping Ash."

"That's for sure," Brock added, and the brunette grinned.

"Awesome, I can't believe it! Ash is the best!"

"The best?" Dawn repeated. Brock stepped forward and walked up to the spiky-haired Trainer.

"Hey Ash, take a break," he suggested, and the Pokémon Trainer smiled at him.

"I guess you're right," he replied. Suddenly, his stomach began to grumble, and he held it embarrassingly. "Whoops. Guess I'm hungry."

"Do we have anything to eat, Brock?" Dawn asked the taller Trainer. The Pokémon Breeder took off his backpack and rummaged through the blue sack. Finally, he pulled out a pale pink cloth and placed two wooden crates in the middle of the room as everyone gathered around to see what he had. When he placed the cloth down, there were seven chocolate chip cookies inside it.

"Okay now, there are five of us, and seven cookies, so how do want to split them up?" he asked them.

"It's seven divided by five... I think," Ash muttered.

"That's one and two-fifths," Khoury replied confidently, then added, "or one point four." Ash frowned at his answer.

"Okay... how are we gonna do one point four?" the spiky-haired Trainer asked. Lyra smiled and reached forward, snatching up two of the cookies.

"Since it's ladies first, that means Dane and I get two each," Lyra explained, picking up two more cookies for Dawn. "And that means you guys get one each." Ash opened his mouth to object, but Lyra grinned and handed Dawn her two cookies. "Dane, here you go! Ladies first!" Dawn looked down at the cookies in her hands.

"Uh, I feel kinda bad..." she muttered.

"Nah, it's fine," Lyra told her. Khoury picked up his one cookie and looked at Lyra.

"Man, that Lyra always comes out on top," he muttered to himself, staring at the single cookie.

"Well, let's eat," Brock replied, not wanting to get everyone into an argument. The group ate without any vocal objections to Lyra's decision, and Lyra split one of her cookies in half and handed it to Marill. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon happily cheered and chewed on it while Lyra popped the other half into her mouth, then moved on to the next one. Finally, everyone finished their cookies and, as soon as they did, Ash jumped right back up, moving the wooden crates out of the way.

"I'm gonna try to open the door again," he told them, and Lyra picked up Marill and held it in her arms, remembering what happened the last time Ash tried to opening the door. Before he could do anything, however, the lights began to flicker once again, but the power didn't go out this time. Everyone gasped and looked up at the lights as they turned back on. "Now what?"

"I hope Piplup's okay..." Dawn muttered as they stared at the light bulb above them.

"Yeah," Khoury added. Suddenly, the door behind them opened, and everyone's heads whipped around and gasped in disbelief.

"It opened! Pikachu must have done it!" Ash exclaimed, and everyone stepped out of their metal prison.

"Pika-pi!" they heard in the distance, and turned to see Pikachu, Piplup and Cyndaquil running towards them.

"Pikachu!" Ash said excitedly, and Pikachu leaped into Ash's arms. "Pikachu, thanks buddy." Dawn herself giggled and bent down, holding her arms out to hug her Pokémon as Cyndaquil and Piplup ran towards her, but Piplup quickly smacked the Fire Mouse Pokémon out of the way before it could reach her. The Fire-type Pokémon quickly bounced back and jumped on Piplup, and the two began to fight again. This time, Dawn sighed and pulled a Poké Ball out.

"Alright, now break it up. Cyndaquil, return," she stated, and a red laser shot out and sucked Cyndaquil back in. Piplup, not realizing Cyndaquil had disappeared, continued to strike the air with its wings for a bit before it stopped. Dawn let out a big sigh and lifted up her Pokémon, placing it on her head.

"We should probably go tell the security guard that we're out and we're leaving," Brock suggested, and the group agreed and walked back upstairs to get to his room.

o 0 o

Inside the room, just like Lyra predicted, the man had his head down so his chin was on his chest, and he was snoring quietly to himself. Ash walked forward and shook the man's arm with his hands to wake him up. "Excuse me, mister?" The man finally held his head up and looked at the kids in sleepy confusion.

"Uh, uh, wha... what?" he muttered. Lyra stepped forward to show the security guard the Pokémon in her arms.

"We found Marill, see? I'm sorry for all the trouble we caused," Lyra apologized. However, the man smiled and chuckled to himself.

"Well, I'm glad you were successful. Now you be careful on your Journey," he replied. "Well, see 'ya." And without waiting for a response, the man leaned back in his chair and went right back to sleep.

"He sleeps well," Dawn commented nervously, and everyone turned around and walked out the door to exit the building.

o 0 o

When they stepped outside the front doors, Lyra gasped as she looked up at the sky, which was now pitch-black and dotted with stars. "Wow, it's already dark!"

"Yeah, but we found Marill, and that's what counts," Ash replied. As they continued to walk past the front gates, a large black figure was standing in front of the path, but they couldn't see what it was because of how dark it was. Suddenly, two lumps at the top of the figure switched on and two bright lights poured out of them, like bright headlights from a car. "What's that thing?"

"All charged up with somewhere to go," a voice on a intercom spoke up.

"We keep going and going!" a high-pitched annoying voice added on.

"It's Team Rocket!" Ash stated. The light the huge figure was given off made it visible in the darkness, and there seemed to be a giant red and gray snail-like Pokémon in front of them, a Magcargo, with a large bright red 'R' on the chest of the creature.

"Oh no, again?" Lyra complained.

"Now hear this," James's voice sounded over the intercom. "Take a substantial gander at the beauty and durability of our new toy!" Suddenly, the red part of the Magcargo machine started to glow red, and the light it gave off made it seem like it was made of lava or something. "Isn't it stunningly fabulous? We spared no expense in order to give our machine the realistic but durable look of lovely lava."

"It's a juice-user, but big deal," Meowth added.

"Besides, that shell on its back is the battery pack," the male member continued.

"And what's a few zillion charging hours with a big dream machine like ours?" Jessie finished. "Fire the Magcargo Cannon, bang bang!" The giant machine then opened its mouth, and Lyra could have sworn that it was a real Magcargo because of how well it moved. A bright yellow orb of energy formed inside the mechanical Magcargo's mouth, and it fired the orb at the group. They all ran to dodge the attack, but it exploded in the middle of them, sending them all flying forward in different directions.

"Yipes! That blast left our electricity reserves at a little more than empty!" Meowth exclaimed as Lyra sat up from the ground, still clasping her Marill tightly so it wouldn't bounce off any be stolen. The lava-like light started to fade slowly and the Magcargo machine let out a dying hum as it did.

"All that charging from one zap?" Jessie yelled angrily. Ash stood up and grunted at them, pointing at the robot in front of him.

"'Kay, that's it! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" he commanded. Electricity appeared around Pikachu's tail, and the electricity quickly surrounded its body in a matter of seconds. It then released a cry and released a beam of electricity from its body at Team Rocket's machine. Inside, everyone began to scream as the electricity coursed through their bodies.

"You'd think with all the dough we spent on a battery, I would have insulated it!" Meowth shouted.

"And while you were at it, you could have made it rechargeable to things like Pikachu's Thunderbolt!" Jessie added, and suddenly the machine exploded, and the three Team Rocket members were ejected out of the machine, and they flew high into the air. They argued amongst themselves for a moment, but all shouted at the same time, "We're blasting off again!" In a blink of an eye, they disappeared in the night sky, and everyone stood up now that they were safe. After the sound of Team Rocket screaming stopped echoing off the mountains, Lyra let out a big sigh and scratched at her head through her puffy hat.

"Today has been exhausting," she muttered, looking down at Marill in her arms. Marill nodded in reply.

"Then we should set up camp for the night. We can't travel much in the dark anyways," Brock responded with a chuckle, setting his backpack down to get out supplies.

"We're gonna camp? Outside? W-what if a wild Ursaring or something comes out and tries to eat us if we're sleeping or something?" Khoury exclaimed, breathing in and out in horror.

"Calm down, Khoury. You don't really have a choice when you're traveling," Lyra told him, sighing in embarrassment.

"And besides, the closest Pokémon Center is in Floaroma Town, which is a while back the way we came," Ash added. "I'll admit, I was scared the first time I slept outside, too, but once you're laying in your sleeping bag with nature all around you, your fears disappear quickly."

"Okay then... If you say so," Khoury muttered back, looking around nervously. They made their way down the slope and into the middle of the field where Ash and Dawn had their practice battle earlier that day, and they all took out their sleeping bags and rolled them out in a pentagon-shape. Brock made a fire in the middle of them to keep them warm, and cooked a fabulous soup for supper. As time went by, Lyra watched as Khoury's fear slowly evaporated from his eyes as time went on.

o 0 o

"You really surprised me by sending out your Girafarig, Lyra," Dawn brought up. They had just finished supper and Brock had heated up some tea and passed some cups around. Each of them sat cross-legged on their sleeping bags. Dawn was on Lyra's right, while Khoury was on her other side. Beside Khoury was Brock, and beside him was Ash. "I thought Marill and Chikorita were the only Pokémon you had."

"Nope! I also have a Mareep," the brunette replied, taking her hat off and placing it on the sleeping bag where her head would lay later that night. After doing this, the girl jabbed her thumb in Khoury's direction. "Khoury here also has a Rhyhorn."

"A Rhyhorn, huh?" Brock asked, grinning and looking at the midnight-green haired boy.

"Yeah, but it doesn't listen to me," he replied shamefully, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head.

"I've been there," Ash added, chuckling himself. "Back when I started my Journey in the Kanto region, I had a Charmander, and when it evolved into a Charmeleon, it didn't listen to me at all. When it evolved into a Charizard, it still didn't. It wasn't until my trip through the Orange Islands that it started listening to me."

"I had the same trouble with my Piloswine when it evolved from a Swinub," Dawn added.

"Every Trainer goes through it eventually. You just gotta keep showing that you care for it, and in time it will start to obey you," Brock told him, and Khoury smiled and nodded.

"Thanks Brock," he replied. Dawn let Piplup have a sip of her tea and looked at Lyra's Marill in her lap, who had already fallen asleep after a big meal.

"Hey Lyra, I've been wondering this for a while," she brought up. "Chikorita's your Starter Pokémon, but you and Marill seem to have such a great bond. Why is this?" Lyra smiled at her and looked down at the Aqua Mouse Pokémon.

"Chikorita isn't really my Starter Pokémon. I just consider her to be because she was the Pokémon that Professor Elm gave to me when I started my Journey. Marill was given to me as an egg when I was younger by a really dear friend. Technically, Marill is my first Pokémon, but Chikorita's my starter."

"Oh, I get it. I guess that makes sense," Dawn replied.

"Yeah, I was kinda awkward when I started out," Lyra continued, her mind thinking back to her first battle with Silver and his Nidoran. She started reminiscing about the past and the people she had met. Suddenly, she belted out laughing. "I couldn't even capture the first Pokémon that I wanted to catch right. I completely missed my Mareep when I threw the Poké Ball." Everyone around the fire laughed along with her.

"Sounds like me when I started my Journey," Ash piped up, looking at his Pikachu. "I tried to capture a Pidgey by myself because Pikachu wasn't too thrilled with me."

"Pikachu?" Lyra gasped, and Ash laughed to himself and petted his partner's head.

"Yup. Surprising, huh? Pikachu and I are best buds now, but that wasn't the case back then," he replied. "I tried to catch the Pidgey with my jacket, but that didn't work. And then I threw a rock at a Spearow and a huge flock of them attacked me!" The spiky-haired Trainer raised both of his arms for effect. "But I finally captured a Caterpie in the Viridian Forest. That was the first Pokémon I ever captured."

"Wow, that's so cool! What about you, Dane? What was the first Pokémon you captured?" Dawn leaned back, looking at the clear night sky and smiled.

"Well, when I started my Journey, I was all by myself. It was just me and you, huh, Piplup?" The Penguin Pokémon smiled at its Trainer and jumped onto her lap. "We met a Buneary, but it wiped the floor with us. Then we continued and saw a Burmy, but I forgot that I had to throw a Poké Ball to catch it and it escaped." Everyone laughed as she chuckled nervously. "But after I met up with Ash and Brock, I found another Buneary and captured it."

"The first Pokémon I caught was my Geodude," Brock added. "My dad and I took a trip to Mt. Moon to try and find some rocks, and I instantly wanted to catch it when I came across it. I don't have any funny stories though, because my dad helped me."

"I'm sure you would have had trouble if you were by yourself," Lyra said to him, and everyone laughed. "Now I don't feel embarrassed about my first capture."

"Everyone was an amateur at some point," Brock comforted, adding a laugh at the end. "What about you, Khoury?" Everyone turned to look at the boy, but he had fallen asleep during their conversation.

"I guess Khoury's beat," Dawn stated.

"Probably from all that worrying," Lyra added, rolling her eyes.

"I think he's got the right idea. I think we should hit the hay as well," the Pokémon Breeder suggested.

"Yeah, I agree," Ash replied, stretching and crawling into his sleeping bag. "Goodnight everyone!"

"Goodnight!" Dawn, Brock and Lyra all said at the same time, and the former two laid down, but Lyra stared at Khoury for a moment, seeing that he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. Slowly and gently so she didn't wake him, she reached out and took his glasses off his face, folding them closed and placing them on the ground next to him.

* * *

Despite how much Khoury annoys her, she cares for him. :3 This chapter is kinda short, but we needed a bonding moment between everyone, so I added this ending scene, haha. Overall, not a bad chapter. ^-^

God, Ash is such a gary-sue. -_- It bugs me so much. He wasn't too bad in the past couple of chapters, but still, overall, I'm annoyed by him. I'm sorry, Ash-fans; I do like his character and stuff, but how everything happens to _him_ and he always has to include himself in everything, it just annoys me, haha. I tried to incorporate his self-centerness in his dialogue. XD I hope I got it. XD

Thank you, dear readers and reviewers for reading this chapter! You're all amazing, amazing people! :) Next chapter, Lyra, Khoury and the group get to Eterna City, and Khoury gets a sudden urge to catch a certain Pokémon. However, Ash also wants to catch this Pokémon. Will Khoury back down and let Ash catch it, or will he fight for it? Find out next chapter! Anyways, that's all from me this update! Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone! See you next update!


	36. A Rivalry to Gible On!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP145: A Rivalry to Gible On! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 33**

Unlike the day before, they made excellent timing trekking up Route 205. This time, when they took a break for lunch, Lyra made sure to put Marill in its Poké Ball before they continued. As they continued, they reached the Eterna Forest, which was like a thick maze of trees, and the sunlight could barely be seen coming through the thick branches above. Ash, Dawn and Brock had been through the area before and knew their way around the forest, but they still managed to get lost. Luckily, Khoury had his PokéGear and found a way to get them out using the map function on the device.

At one time, a Buneary popped out of the bushes and Lyra, who wanted to catch it, got excited and rushed up to it. The Rabbit Pokémon ended up using Bounce, jumping up and bouncing off Lyra's head to get away from the group. Ash and Dawn had offered to go after it, but Lyra shook her head, saying that she had caused them enough time already with her Marill.

As they were nearing the end of the forest, they stopped and set up camp for the night, since the sun was just setting down. Like before, Khoury was nervous about sleeping outside, but because they were in a dense forest this time. However, once Brock set a fire and a conversation got going, his fears disappeared.

Bright and early the next morning, the group headed out, finally getting out of the dense forest on the other side of Route 205. And a couple hours later, they had finally arrived in Eterna City. The city itself wasn't as hectic as Jubilife City, but definitely not as quiet as Floaroma Town, but it had the same feel to it as the town before did. It was relaxing, and the air was so light that Lyra's lungs felt like that could fly. Using his PokéGear again, Khoury led them to the Pokémon Center, and they stood in front of the L-shaped building. The main building was large, and it was tan, but the roof was blue. Above the huge automatic glass doors was a huge red P where the second floor was. There was also an area on the side that had a battlefield. In disbelief that they had finally made it to the center, they stopped and stared at the center for a bit with a smile on each of their faces before finally walking forward and through the automatic doors.

"Anybody here?" Ash asked as the doors opened. The Nurse Joy of the center, who was standing at her desk, was putting together some paperwork, and looked up when she saw them. On her nurse's cap was a pink cross. She smiled at them warmly when she saw them.

"Oh, hi everyone!" she greeted kindly.

"Nurse Joy! Wowie!" Brock exclaimed, suddenly changing personalities in a split second. He clasped his hands together at the side of his face and rushed up to her, leaning against the desk and looking straight into her eyes. "Such pretty eyes... You're Celestic Town's Nurse Joy's cousin and Snowpoint City's Joy's sister, am I right?" The Nurse Joy laughed nervously, clearly uncomfortable with Brock's flirting.

"Uh, why yes," she replied. "How did you know?"

"It's a gift. I happen to know everything about each Nurse Joy at any given moment, all around the world!" Brock answered. Beside Lyra, Khoury took out a notepad and started scribbling down a few notes.

"Brock is amazing! What a memory," Khoury commented as he scrolled down a few things.

"Yeah, but I think that memory would be put to better use as a Pokémon Breeder," Dawn muttered. Brock took Nurse Joy's hand gently in his and looked at her through the top of his squinted eyes.

"Nurse Joy, I suggest continuing this over dinner for two. Nice table, soft music, candlelight..." Suddenly, a burst of light poured out from his belt and formed behind him, and a blue frog-like Pokémon with white bands around its stomach and large orange cheeks appeared at his feet. It then raised one of its long arms, and the tip of its black and orange fingers started to glow purple with poison, and it jabbed its hand into Brock's backside. Brock suddenly cried out and flailed around in pain. "Maybe... I'll... just... stand!" He then collapsed to the ground and the Pokémon, Croagunk, grabbed its Trainer's foot and dragged him away while Ash and Dawn chuckled nervously amongst themselves.

"Well, Brock won't be forgetting _that_ very soon," Lyra stated, adding onto Khoury's comment from before as she watched his Pokémon drag him away. Just then, the automatic doors behind them opened, and they stepped out of the way for the people coming in.

"Nurse Joy!" a male voice called, and three children walked in, a boy and two girls, each of them holding a unconscious Pokémon in their hands.

"Nurse Joy, please help us!" a girl with short brown hair and glasses cried. In her arms was a fainted Eevee. Nurse Joy stepped out from behind her desk and walked up to the children.

"You three didn't go to Wayward Cave, did you?" she asked them like she was scolding them, but she looked very worried.

"Yeah..." the boy, who held a Mankey in his arms, admitted, lowering his head in shame. "See, we were only trying to catch it." The two other girls lowered their heads as well, both looking at their Pokémon. The girl who was silent held a Farfetch'd in her hands. Everyone walked forward as they overheard this.

"Do they mean catch a Pokémon?" Ash asked Nurse Joy.

"That's right," Nurse Joy answered him. "There's a rogue Gible there. Dangerous, so stay away." She then looked at the children. "Let's take care of your Pokémon."

"Right!" they all agreed, and they all rushed to the back room as Nurse Joy trailed behind them.

"Nurse Joy!" Brock shouted, and appeared out from behind the corner that Croagunk had dragged him. "I'd like to help, too!"

"Thanks Brock! That's very sweet," she said to him, smiling and running after the kids. Brock followed her and they both disappeared behind two doors.

"That rogue Gible sounds really scary," Dawn muttered loud enough for the group to hear. Everyone was quiet, but Ash hummed to himself, then clenched a fist and smiled.

"Well if it's a rogue Pokémon, I bet it's a _strong_ Pokémon!"

"Pikachu!" the Pokémon on his shoulder added on. Lyra reached forward and placed a hand on Khoury's shoulder. When he looked at her, she winked at him.

"Hey, how about _we_ have a look?" the brunette asked him, and he quickly shook his shoulder away from her grip.

"Wait... i-isn't that dangerous?" he stuttered, and Lyra groaned and placed her hands on her hips.

"Khoury, do you have to be afraid of _everything?_" she sighed. Ignoring their conversation, Ash grinned widely and looked at the door determinedly.

"'Kay, it's time to catch a rogue Pokémon!" he exclaimed, then rushed up of the center without waiting for anyone to realize what he was doing. The group quickly turned around and ran after him.

"Ash, slow down!" Dawn yelled to him, but he didn't hear her over his excitement, and he jumped into the air, clapping his feet together in midair.

"Yahoo!" he cheered, and continued running.

"Yahoo!" Lyra repeated, as she was equally excited to see the Pokémon.

"H-hey! Wait for me!" Khoury shouted behind them, clumsily running to catch up to the three.

o 0 o

They exited Eterna City to the south, and Route 206 split into two paths. On one side, there was a long, winding path that went downhill, and on the other path was Sinnoh's Cycling Road, which could only be entered if they had bikes on them. They didn't, but they weren't going that way anyways, and headed down the left path to where Wayward Cave waited below.

As they walked, Lyra slowed down some, taking Dawn with her and forcing her to slow down so she could walk alongside her. As Khoury walked alongside Ash up ahead, Lyra grinned to herself and looked at Dawn. "Dane, tell me. What do you think of Khoury?"

"What do you mean?" the blue-haired Coordinator asked in response. Lyra closed her eyes and pointed in the air matter-of-factually.

"I _mean_, what do you think of him as a boyfriend?" she elaborated, and Dawn suddenly cried out in surprise.

"As a boyfriend?" she exclaimed, and the two boys in front turned around when they heard her yell out.

"Something wrong?" Khoury called to them.

"Oh! No no no no no, not a thing!" Dawn yelped, jumping in front of Lyra and waving her arms like a maniac. When they turned back around and continued walking, the Pokémon Coordinator let out a big sigh as Piplup looked down at her from its perch on her head.

"Now Khoury may not seem like much, but I know as a couple you two'd be great," Lyra said to her, waving her pointed finger back and forth. Dawn let out another sigh as she said this, and the brunette raised her fist in the air. "That's right! Look out Dane and Khoury, because for _this_ matchmaker, it's cupid-playing time!"

"No! You don't have to do that! Really, you don't!" Dawn exclaimed behind her, flailing her arms around and blushing a deep red with embarrassment. Lyra, however, ignored her, humming along to a song and skipped ahead to catch up to Ash and Khoury while Dawn continued to flail her arms and run after her. "Lyra, come back!" The brunette finally caught up to the two and jumped in a spot next to Ash.

"Hi Ash," she said, then looked at Khoury and grinned. "Hiiiii, Khoury." The two boys looked at her strangely, and Khoury raised one of his eyebrows.

"Uh, hi?" he muttered, but he looked at her with a confused look on his face. Lyra turned her head and looked behind her, and saw Dawn following behind.

"Oops, sorry Dane, no more room. But there's some over there next to Khoury," she told her with a sneaky grin on her face. Dawn glanced at Khoury, and the open area next to him, and, taking a quick glance of hate at Lyra, jumped in a spot in between Ash and Khoury. The four of them began to walk normally again, when suddenly, Ash stopped and looked up in the air. Doing so caused everyone else to stop and look up, and they screamed as they saw a giant boulder hurtling towards them, Lyra and Ash jumping into the bushes on one side of the road and Dawn and Khoury on the other side. The boulder crashed in the ground where they stood just seconds before, and Ash gasped in surprise.

"What was that?" he exclaimed, and they heard a high-pitched laugh in the distance. Turning towards the source of the laughing, they saw a gray and red creature laughing as hard as it could with his stubby hands on its hips. "What's that?" Taking a closer look, they saw that it was a short Pokémon with a large fin coming out from the top of its head. Khoury stood up off the ground and took out his Pokédex, scanning the creature with the device. **"Gible, the Land Shark Pokémon. Gible once lived in the tropics, and to avoid cold it lives in caves warmed by geothermal heat."** As the entry finished, Gible's body became surrounded in a white aura, and it reached down, picking up a large rock next to it and lifting it up with one hand.

"Woah, Gible's using Strength!" Ash told them, but everyone screamed and ran out of the way as Gible tossed the rock forward at them. It crashed inches away where Ash had been if he hadn't moved. Suddenly, Gible propelled itself forward, jumping off the cliff and extended one of its arms forward. The little fist started to glow white, and it dove straight into the boulder it just threw, smashing it to pieces as it made contact with the rock. "Gible used Rock Smash! Now _that's_ power." As he said this, Ash pulled a Poké Ball from his belt and held it in his hand. "I like it! I'm catching Gible for sure!" On the other side of the road, Dawn pulled out a Poké Ball of her own and held it up.

"Khoury, this is dangerous! Better stand back," she warned him, but, to everyone's surprise, he grinned and clenched both of his fists by his chest.

"_I_ wanna raise it!" he stated, and Dawn and Lyra gasped in surprise. His eyes became wide with excitement as he looked at the Land Shark Pokémon in front of him. "Just look at that Gible! I just know I could raise it into an awesome Gabite!" Lyra placed her hands on her hips and smiled as Khoury said this.

"It looks like that Gible's bringing out the Breeder in Khoury!" she commented. Ash, who had been overlooking the scene in awe, raised his hand again and smirked.

"But _I'm_ gonna catch it!" he added, and tossed his Poké Ball forward. "Buizel, I choose you!" The Poké Ball opened within seconds and an orange and tan weasel-like Pokémon with a round yellow sac around its neck appeared in front of him, its arms crossed across its chest in determination.

"Bui bui!" the Pokémon cried as it looked out at the Gible in front of it. Khoury didn't waste any time in taking out a Poké Ball of his own and tossing it forward.

"Two can play at that game! Totodile, give me a hand!" he called, and in a flash of light, Totodile appeared on the other side of Gible, waving its arms like a bodybuilder. As the two Pokémon stood side-by-side and faced Gible, the Land Shark Pokémon waved its arms a couple times before waving one. As it did, a small wave of sand blew through the wind in front of it, and it waved the other much more harder, and a huge sandstorm blew out from around it. The attack surprised Khoury and it sent him blowing backwards, but Dawn grabbed him from behind and held his backpack so he wouldn't be blown back anymore. Ash and Lyra covered their face with their arms and watched as the Sandstorm attack blew away both Buizel and Totodile. Finally, it ended, and Gible laughed with its hands on its hips a bit more before back flipping into the air and swan diving into the ground and digging away.

"Awesome! I've just _gotta_ catch Gible!" Ash cried excitedly, and Lyra smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders.

"I'll help you, too," Lyra told him, and Khoury and Dawn looked at her in confusion. She turned and looked at the two next to her. "Dane, you keep an eye on Khoury, 'kay?" As she said this, she winked at Dawn. The blue-haired girl continued to look at her in confusion, but nodded her head.

"Okay..." she muttered. Suddenly, Khoury pumped his fists in the air excitedly and smirked with determination.

"Wow, that Gible's gonna be mine!" he cheered.

"You're on!" Ash accepted, and ran ahead down the path.

"Right Ash," Khoury replied, and the others jogged after him down the rest of the path where Gible escaped to.

o 0 o

The path led out into a huge field of knee-high tall grass, and the group decided to split into two to try and find Gible. While Khoury, Dawn, Totodile and Piplup went one way, Lyra, Ash, Pikachu and Buizel went the other. Now the two were standing in the middle of the field, looking around and scanning their eyes for any movement in the grass. Pikachu stood on Ash's head to get a better view. Suddenly, Lyra gasped as a gray fin went zooming by, and pointed to it to get Ash's attention. "There! And Gible's moving fast!" she exclaimed, and Ash quickly turned around and saw Gible's fin sticking out of the grass like a shark's out of water. The spiky-haired Trainer reacted quickly.

"Buizel! Use Aqua Jet!" he commanded, and right away, Buizel's body became surrounded in water, and it shot into the air like a rocket straight at the fin sticking out of the grass. Just as Buizel was about to hit it, however, Gible ducked its fin underneath the grass, Buizel skimming right over it. "What a dodge!" The fin came back up behind them and Lyra's head whipped around as the grass made a noise.

"That way!" she shouted, and pointed again.

"Quick Buizel, Water Gun!" The Sea Weasel Pokémon landed on the grass, breaking free of its Aqua Jet attack, and let out a powerful stream of water from its mouth. Like before, as soon as the Water Gun was about to hit its target, Gible dived further under the grass, dodging the attack. In the blink of an eye, Gible screamed loudly and jumped up behind them. The two Pokémon Trainers whipped around and gasped as they saw the Pokémon.

"Gible's over there!" Lyra yelled as Gible fell down and jumped back into the air.

"Buizel, use SonicBoom!" Ash ordered as he turned around.

"Bui bui!" his Pokémon cried, its entire tail started to glow white as it jumped high into the air. Whipping around quickly, a crescent-shaped energy was released from its tail and shot at Gible. The Pokémon effortlessly flipped over the attack and dove back into the grass. It stuck its fin out of the grass and started moving at a fast speed yet again.

"Gible's moving fast!" Lyra exclaimed.

"Intercept it with Aqua Jet!" the Pokémon Trainer responded, and Buizel's body became surrounded in water again, launching itself at Gible. The Land Shark Pokémon swerved to the right to dodge the Aqua Jet and continued moving in the direction it was going for. Lyra gasped when she saw that Gible was heading straight for them, and both Pokémon Trainers turned around and screamed, running away from the speedy Dragon-type.

"Gible's catching up!" Lyra cried worriedly as they ran, hearing the grass parting as Gible rushed through it behind her getting closer and closer.

"Quick, Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash told the Mouse Pokémon who was on his shoulder. The yellow Electric-type jumped up into the air and released a cry, then released a beam of electricity from its body at Gible's fin. Gible dived down deeper into the grass to avoid the attack, and then leaped high into the air.

"Gible! Gib gib!" it called.

"Up there!" Lyra shouted, and both Trainers turned around when they heard the Pokémon. Suddenly, it started waving its arms at them one after the other. With each wave, a powerful mixture of sand and wind blew out of them, and it started to wave them faster, eventually blowing them off their feet. They cried out as they were thrown back and skidded against the ground. When the Sandstorm attack stopped, they looked up and saw that Gible was gone.

"It's gone," Ash stated, and they both sat up into a sitting position. "Man, catching Gible's gonna be tougher than I thought."

"You can say that again," Lyra muttered.

"Pika..." Pikachu added, crossing its arms. Letting out a big sigh, Lyra looked behind them and tried to see what Khoury and Dawn were having any luck with Gible. Both of them had gotten out fishing rods from Khoury's backpack and were standing on a rock that arched out over the grass. Both were waiting patiently with lures cast in the grass.

"It looks like Khoury and Dane are trying to catch Gible using fishing rods," Lyra reported. Suddenly, Khoury's fishing rod started to shake, and he gasped.

"A bite!" she heard him yell, and start to reel in the lure. She gasped as he pulled the rod up to bring the caught Pokémon up, and the two gasped when they saw that it wasn't Gible hooked on the end, but Piplup by its tail. Lyra laughed to herself as Khoury looked at Piplup with an annoyed look on his face and reeled it in.

"They can do what they want! We're _chasing_ Gible out!" Ash said determinedly, standing up on his feet.

"What do you mean chase?" Lyra asked him, and the spiky-haired Trainer looked around at his feet, then reached down and picked up two sticks that he must have fell on and broke. The brunette raised an eyebrow as he handed her the two sticks, then picked up two of his own. As Ash held up the two sticks, one in each hand, his plan started to come together in her head. "Now I get it!" The spiky-haired boy turned to his Water-type Pokémon a distance away from them.

"Buizel! When we chase it your way, you battle! Okay?" The Sea Weasel Pokémon, who had climbed up on one of the rocks arching out of the grass, saluted its Trainer to show that it understood. Lyra rushed over to stand on the other side of the rock a distance away from Ash. "You ready over there, Lyra?"

"Okie-dokie!" she replied, clapping her two sticks together in front of her lightly to test them out. Both of them ran at the same time, running in opposite directions in a circle, with the rock that Ash's Buizel was standing on the middle of the circle. As they ran, they waved their arms up and down and clapped the sticks together.

"Come out, come out where ever you are!" Ash shouted.

"Face the music and dance!" Lyra called. They both shouted these once more before suddenly, Gible jumped out of the grass, flailing its arms angrily and looking quite annoyed. Lyra caught sight of it and stopped running. "There it is!" The Land Shark Pokémon also saw her and dove into the grass, sticking its fin out and then started moving at her at full speed. "No! Get away from me!"

"Lyra! Jump on the rock!" Ash yelled. Wasting no time, Lyra spun around and ran as fast as she could to get to the closest rock jutting out of the grass. When she reached it, she climbed up on it and turned around to see where Gible was. She gasped when the Land Shark Pokémon was approaching the rock as fast as it could, and not showing signs of slowing down as well. Without any warning or hesitation, the Pokémon plowed right through the rock, sending Lyra flying through the air as the rock exploded under her. She screamed as she flew, holding her arms out in front of her to cushion the impact, and she landed face-down on the grass below.

"That hurt..." she muttered as she landed.

"Lyra!" Ash cried with concern in his voice, but the brunette waved at him.

"Don't worry; I'm fine!" she replied. "You go and catch Gible!"

"You bet!" he agreed, then turned to his Pokémon standing on the rock. "Buizel! C'mon!" The Sea Weasel Pokémon jumped off the rock and both of them took off in the direction that Gible had gone when it smashed the rock. As Lyra slowly stood up, pain radiating through the whole front of her body from her landing, she watched as Gible's fin shot right towards the rock where Khoury and Dawn where standing with their lines cast, and they hadn't seemed to have noticed. "Dawn and Khoury, heads up! Gible's coming your way!" Both of them turned when they heard their names.

"It is?" they both exclaimed, and their eyes locked on the fin jutting out of the ground and heading right towards them.

"Buizel! Aqua Jet, quick!" Ash commanded, and Buizel shot at Gible like a rocket, its body surrounded in water.

"Totodile, Aqua Tail, let's go!" Khoury ordered to the Pokémon at his feet, and the Big Jaw Pokémon leaped into the air and turned its backside towards Gible. Its tail then became surrounded by a spiraling stream of water that spun around like a whirlpool, and both Pokémon shot at Gible. The Land Shark Pokémon was smarter than to fall for these attacks, however, and at the last moment, jumped up, giggling, and dashed to the left. Both Water-types gasped out and the two attacks hit each other, knocking them both to the ground. After wincing in pain, the two Pokémon jumped up, glared at each other and started to shout at each other in anger. The two glared at each other for a bit longer before jumping at each other and clobbering each other.

"Buizel! Knock it off!" Ash demanded, running up to the two Pokémon fighting.

"Totodile, stop that!" Khoury yelled, running up to the brawl as well. Meanwhile, Lyra managed to stand up off the ground and dust herself off, and looked up just in time to see Dawn's fishing pole bend slightly.

"It's a bite!" she shouted, and pulled her fishing rod up with a quick tug. The line rose into the air from the tug, and at the end of it was Piplup, the lure tied around its leg this time. Her excited face faded into an embarrassed one and she reeled in her own Pokémon, letting it hang next to her. "Piplup, this is getting a little bit old..." Lyra laughed at the pair and approached Khoury and Ash as they tried to settle down their Pokémon. However, they sighed as they were forced to recall their Pokémon into their Poké Balls in order to stop them from fighting.

"Now what?" Ash asked Lyra, and the girl shrugged and looked at Khoury.

"Well, we could try Khoury's idea," she replied, taking off her backpack and opening up the knapsack, pulling out a pair of disassembled fishing rods that she had gotten from the Festival. Ash sighed heavily, seeing no other option, and grumbled to himself.

"Fine..." he mumbled. The three climbed onto the rock, each of them standing on a side of the rock. Lyra put together the fishing rods and handed on to Ash. Using some of Khoury's Pokémon food as bait, they cast the line and waited. "I _guess_ this really wasn't such a bad idea, after all."

"I'd say there's a much better chance of this working," Lyra agreed. Khoury turned around and pointed his finger up.

"That's right!" he replied. "And maybe if I add the flavors that Ground-types _and_ Dragon-types like in their Pokémon food-"

"But I thought you said Totodile didn't _like_ the Pokemon food you made, Khoury," Lyra interrupted, taunting him with a smirk on her face.

"Give me a break, Lyra," he responded, smiling nervously. "After all, I've learned a lot about cooking from Brock." Taking a package of Pokémon food out of his backpack, he crushed up a red and blue berry called a Haban Berry into a fine purple powder and mixed it in with the bag of Pokémon food by dumping the powder inside and shaking it. He then took out a bowl and dumped the food in the bowl, and held it in between everyone. "Okay, it's ready! You guys are welcome to it, too!"

"Wow!" Dawn muttered in awe.

"Thanks, Khoury!" Ash thanked, and everyone reached out and grabbed a piece of the brown kibble covered with purple powder and hooked it onto their line.

"So now it's fair and square," Lyra commented as they did this.

"Which means we'll win for sure!" Ash declared, and they all cast their lines out into the grass. A long while passed by of the group in fishing in silence, each of them waiting on edge for their fishing line to tug. Not even ten minutes had passed before Dawn's fishing rod began to pull, the line tugging into the grass. The girl gasped as the fishing line started to tug.

"Here we go! Got it!" she announced, trying to pull it toward her. Lyra, however, leaned back and sneered at Dawn.

"Betcha it's Piplup again," she teased, but looked down at the girl's feet and saw the Penguin Pokémon munching on one of the pink Poffins Dawn had given it.

"Pip, Piplup?" the Pokémon asked, looking up after hearing its name. Everyone looked down at Piplup, then at the line.

"So maybe that means..." Lyra muttered, then saw a familiar gray fin pop out from the grass, running around in circles with the line connected to it.

"It's Gible!" Ash exclaimed. Dawn tried to pull it in more without snapping her line, but she was struggling greatly, her arms quivering from Gible's strength.

"Man, it _is_ strong!" she groaned. Suddenly, the line tugged towards the grass, and she screamed as her grip was about to let go, but Khoury dropped his own fishing rod and jumped to help her.

"Dawn!" he screamed, and stood next to her, wrapping his hands around her fishing rod as well and helping her to pull up the Land Shark Pokémon.

"Come on, don't let go!" Ash cheered on as the two, standing side-by-side, grunted and pulled as hard as they could to try and pull it up.

"I can't! Gible's just too strong!" Dawn shouted as she dug her heels into the ground to pull it back.

"Uh, oh! The line's gonna break! Ease off of it!" Khoury told her urgently.

"It's too heavy!" she complained.

"Okay, try and reel it in!" he replied back. Meanwhile, Lyra overlooked this scene with her arms crossed and a sneaky grin planted on her face.

_Dane and Khoury make a darling couple, don't they?_ she thought to herself as she saw her plan slowly coming together in front of her. Finally, Gible had enough and jumped out of the grass, crying out with the line in its mouth.

"There it is! Reel it in!" Ash cried excitedly, but Gible reached its hand up and put it on the line sticking out of its mouth. With a quick tug, it pulled Khoury and Dawn right off their feet, off the rock and onto the ground. The Pokémon then jumped into the air and raised one of its fists. As it pulled it back, it started to glow white, and it dove at the rock Lyra and Ash were standing on. With a scream, everyone leaped off the rock as the Land Shark Pokémon used Rock Smash, destroying the rock and breaking it into pieces before running off, laughing maniacally to itself at its trick. "Okay, that's it! I've gotcha now!" The spiky-haired Trainer then ran past Lyra, who had fallen off the rock and fell onto her backside, and chased after Gible with Pikachu following closely behind. Lyra quickly jumped up and her and Dawn ran after him.

"Hold on Ash! Wait for me!" she called after him.

"H-hey! I'm coming too!" Khoury shouted behind them.

o 0 o

They followed Gible as much as they could, but Ash stopped when he had saw that he had lost it. He let out a sigh and looked around with his hands on his hips, trying to find where the Land Shark Pokémon had gone. They had run out of the grassy area, finally, and could actually see their own feet in the grass. To the left of them was a small lake where a group of three people could be seen fishing on the dock. "Great, it's gone," he muttered.

"Do you think it might have used Dig to escape?" Lyra asked, looking around as well. Without saying another word, Khoury reached into one of the side pockets of his square, blue backpack and pulled out a stethoscope. Putting the earpieces in his ears, he put the flat part of it against the ground and started checking different areas with it.

"It's faint, but I can hear it," the Breeder reported.

"I know!" Lyra piped up, pulling a Poké Ball out of her pocket. "Marill, come on out and give us a hand!"

"Marill!" the Pokémon cried as it formed from the light and latched itself in its usual spot on Lyra's arm. It then closed its eyes and its large round ears started to twitch as it listened for any sounds around the area. "Mair!" The Pokémon opened its eyes and pointed forward as it locked onto Gible.

"Marill says Gible is over there," Lyra reported, looking straight ahead where Marill was pointing.

"'Kay, let's go!" Ash replied, and followed the direction that Marill pointed them through, walking along the tip of the beach's shore. A few minutes of walking later, following Marill's directions, they ended up in front of a large rock ledge. They had walked away from the lake, but it could still be seen in the distance. Lyra and Ash looked around the area, expecting to see Gible's fin or Gible itself to pop out of anywhere. Meanwhile, Khoury and Dawn were away from them, and the Pokémon Breeder was kneeled on the ground, with the bell of the stethoscope against the ground and listening for Gible. They stopped and looked towards an opening in the ledge, most likely a cave, and started walking towards it, muttering amongst themselves.

"Look! Dane and Khoury!" Lyra showed Ash.

"Hey, I wonder if they're onto something," he said, stepping forward. Without any warning, he dashed off to get ahead of them.

"Wait Ash!" Lyra called, but he had already passed Khoury and Dawn.

"See 'ya there!" he told them as he rushed by.

"Ash! Better be careful or else!" Khoury warned, reaching out and holding his hand out to stop him, but the boy laughed to himself, too occupied about getting to the cave first. Suddenly, a hole opened up in the ground where he stepped, and with a yell, he slid down, throwing Pikachu off his head and knocking it back. Lyra gasped and everyone rushed up to him as the hole opened up wider. Sand was pouring in and being sucked into the middle of the hole, and a Pokémon with a large orange head and a mouth as wide as its head with sharp teeth stuck its head out, its jaws opening and closing as it waited for Ash to get to the middle.

"Aw man! It's a Trapinch sand trap!" he mumbled, and Khoury jumped into action, kneeling down onto the ground while trying to stay away from the edge of the Sand Tomb attack, and reached his hand out to Ash.

"Grab on!" Khoury ordered, and Ash nodded, grasping the boy's hand. With all of his strength, he managed to pull the boy out of the Sand Tomb attack. As Ash collapsed on the ground, his heart beating a mile a minute, the Trapinch looked up at them, saw he escaped, and grunted to itself as it disappeared back under the ground.

"Thanks, Khoury..." Ash thanked, sitting up and breathing heavily at his close call. However, Dawn didn't look too pleased with Ash, and she glared down at him with her hands on her hips.

"Look, Ash, sometimes you act so reckless you make me want to scream out loud!" she scolded. The boy turned his head away from her and looked at her through the corner of his eyes.

"Knock it off. I don't need any advice from you," he replied. This caused Dawn's eyebrow to twitch and she leaned forward.

"When I want to give advice, I'll give it!" she snapped.

"_Give it_ a rest!" he shouted back.

"No, you!"

"Now now, this is no time to fight," Khoury told them, waving his arms to try and calm them down.

"It's a perfect time!" Dawn screamed, not even taking her eyes off Ash.

"I told you I don't need your help!" Ash yelled, and Lyra turned away from them and giggled to herself as the two Pokémon Trainers continued to fight.

"There's nothing like two people who really care," she said to herself, then stopped and looked up in the sky. "Hold on..." She turned around and looked at the two bicker, but then looked beyond them and stared at Khoury, who was trying to calm them down. "Do Khoury and_ I _act like that?" However, the brunette shook her head clear of the thoughts and looked down at the Pokémon hanging from her arm. "Marill, Water Gun!" Understanding its Trainer, it nodded and fired a blast of water at the two Trainers, who were still arguing. They immediately stopped when the water soaked them, and they both glared at the brunette.

"What was that for?" they yelled at the same time, and Lyra giggled.

"You two hot-heads need to cool down," she replied. "Besides, the longer you two argue, the more time Gible has to escape." Realizing the truth in her words, Ash immediately jumped up.

"You're right!" he gasped, and turned around, being sure to stay close to the cave's wall so he wouldn't get sucked up in any more Sand Tomb attacks.

"O-oh! Wait for me!" Khoury cried, running after Ash. Lyra smiled at Dawn and the two girls followed them into the mouth of the cave. The cave was much bigger inside than it did looked outside, and even the path they were following was huge, and the ceiling couldn't even be touched if they had climbed on someone else's shoulder.

"Wow, this is a big cave," Ash commented from the front of the line, his voice echoing off the walls.

"So do you really think Gible's in here, Khoury?" Lyra asked him.

"I can almost guarantee it," he replied. "My Pokédex says that Gible really like to live in caves." Finally, they seemed to reach the end of the path they were walking, and it led to a large clearing. The whole area was huge, and in front of them were tons of tunnels and entrances all around, even some on the ceilings, and everyone looked around in awe.

"In a place like this, Gible could be anywhere!" Dawn exclaimed as she looked at the holes. Khoury looked and pointed at one of the tunnels on the ground floor.

"Let's start there," he suggested, and him and Dawn walked off.

"Lyra, why don't we go, too?" Ash said to her, and the brunette nodded, then looked at the Aqua Mouse Pokémon on her arm.

"I'll need your help again, Marill," she stated.

"Marill!" the Pokémon replied excitedly, and as they started walking in the opposite direction of where Khoury and Dawn went, Marill closed its eyes and its ears started to twitch as it listened for Gible. Marill then smiled and pointed forward to a tunnel closest to them. "Marill, Mair!"

"It's down there, huh?" Ash asked it, and then took out a Poké Ball from his belt. "Come on out, Monferno, and use Dig!" As he tossed the red and white orb, it opened up and released a light. The light condensed into an orange and tan monkey-like Pokémon with a red-yellow fire blazing at the end of its tail. It had a white fur collar around its neck as well.

"Monferno!" the Pokémon cried, jumping into the air and diving into the ground. It then jumped around the whole area, digging holes in the ground a couple of feet before jumping out of them and digging another. Suddenly, Monferno jumped out of one of its holes and looked inside it with a surprised look on its face.

"Find it?" Ash questioned excitedly, but a small, brown Pokémon with a large pink nose popped out of the hole, a Diglett, and glared at Monferno.

"Diglett!" it shouted. All of a sudden, more of the Pokémon started popping out of the holes, and a larger Pokémon that looked like three of the smaller ones together popped out as well.

"Look at the Diglett!" Lyra stated, looking around at them in the holes that were all around them.

"And the Dugtrio, too!" Ash finished. They looked at all of them and saw that they all looked angrily at the two Pokémon Trainers, then cried out and disappeared underneath the holes. Suddenly, all of the Diglett and Dugtrio popped up underneath Lyra, Ash and Monferno, and they screamed in surprise as they fell back, landing on the Pokémon's heads. The Diglett and Dugtrio then raced forward, going deeper into the tunnel they were going down.

"Ash! Lyra!" they heard Dawn exclaim behind them, but the Diglett and Dugtrio were moving so fast that within seconds, Khoury and Dawn were swallowed up by the darkness.

"Oh no! What are we going to do!" Lyra yelled, holding onto Marill beside her as the Diglett and Dugtrio carried them down the cave's tunnels. "We have to get off them before they carry us deeper in the cave and we get lost in here!"

"We'll have to jump off them! We don't have any other choice!" Ash shouted, and Lyra nodded. "Ready? One... two... THREE!" With a lurch, both of them tucked in their knees and rolled to the side like they were jumping out of the side of a moving vehicle. Lyra felt herself hit the cave's ground and rolled, holding Marill in her arms tightly, and she finally stopped. Looking up, Lyra saw it was just in time, too, as they had reached a fork in the road, and the Diglett and Dugtrio split up, and if they had still been on there, they would have crashed right into the wall. Lyra let out a deep breath of relief and Marill latched onto her arm while Ash pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled his Monferno. "Man that was tough. I'm beat." However, before they could do anything else, a high-pitched scream ringed through the cave walls, and both Lyra and Ash looked up. "That's Dawn's voice!" Just then, another scream, this time a lower-pitched one, shrieked.

"That's Khoury's voice! What happened?" Lyra asked. She soon got her answer, however, as a sound of wings fluttering drowned out the screams, and chattering suddenly swooped down upon them as a huge flock of Zubats flew at them, some of them flying into them. Both Pokémon Trainers raised their arms instinctively over their faces and screamed themselves at the surprise of the Bat Pokémon.

Both of them stood up at the same time and ran down the tunnel to get away from the blue and purple Pokémon, but they both ran down different tunnels, Lyra running down the left tunnel and Ash running down the right one. The brunette ran as fast as she could to try and get away from the Pokémon. Finally, the Pokémon seemed to flutter up, and she stopped, taking a deep breath after hearing the last of them fly up. She opened her eyes again and saw that she was in another clearing with five tunnels around her. "Ash! Come on, where are you?" she cried, cupping her hands around her mouth. Her voice echoed through the caves, but she heard no response. Sighing heavily, she sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees. Marill jumped off her arm and looked at its Trainer worriedly. "Oh no... no matter how I add it all up, I'm totally alone."

"Marill, Mair..." the Pokémon uttered, and Lyra took in a deep breath and looked up.

"I hate this! Someone come and save me, please!" she yelled as loud as she could. Just then, her PokéGear in her pocket began to ring, and she reached down and opened it. Right away, Khoury's face appeared on the screen.

"Lyra?"

"Khoury? What are you doing? Will you hurry up and rescue me?" she asked him.

"Sure, but stay put 'till I get there," he answered, and she paused for a moment.

"Does that mean you know where I am?"

"No, not really. But I promise, I'll find you."

"How will you do that?"

"Tap on the cave wall," he instructed, and she reached out and picked up a small stone within reach of her and held it in her hand.

"Okay, hold on," she replied. She looked at the stone, then started tapping it slowly against the hard ground below her, at the same pace as a heartbeat. On the screen, the brunette saw Khoury put in his stethoscope in his ears and seemed to be feeling around.

"Alright, coming in loud and clear..." he muttered to himself. "Okay Lyra, keep it up!" She nodded and continued doing so.

"Do you know where I am yet?"

"Just tap a little more," Khoury replied, and she glared down at the PokéGear's screen before looking into the air and crying out.

"Don't you get it? I'm cold and hungry! Hurry up and find me!" she cried, and Marill held its sensitive ears from her whining.

"Lyra!" a voice called, and she gasped when she saw that the screen on her PokéGear had gone black, but it was Khoury's voice she heard. Looking ahead, the Pokémon Breeder was running towards her, waving his hand to get her attention. "Hey! You okay?"

"Khoury! You found me!" the brunette exclaimed, standing up when she saw him. She laughed slightly as she ran towards him, and when the two met up, her smile turned into a frown and she clenched her fists in anger, throwing them down in annoyance as Marill leaped up and jumped onto her arm. "Khoury, you're late!" she yelled, and turned around and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Uh, sorry 'bout that," he apologized, scratching his head nervously.

"Guys!" another voice called, and both of them turned to the tunnel where the source of the voice came from.

"That's gotta be Ash," Khoury said, and Ash and Dawn appeared out of the darkness, running up to them. Ash was waving at them to get their attention. "Ash! Dawn!" The two groups of two rushed up to each other and smiled as they met.

"What a relief!" Lyra stated.

"So you two are all right?" Dawn asked them.

"Yeah, we're just fine," Khoury answered for them.

"Great! Now we can get back to finding that Gible, right?" Ash inquired, looking at Khoury with a smirk on his face.

"Huh? Really? _Still?_" the brunette gasped, raising her eyebrows at Ash's determination.

"That's why we're here. Of course; what do you mean?" he replied nonchalantly, and Khoury nodded.

"_First_ we should find the exit," he added. "We can deal with catching Gible afterwards."

"So how do we find it?" Lyra asked her friend.

"Well..." Khoury muttered, then stuck his pointer finger in his mouth and held it up in the air.

"Khoury, what are you doing?" Ash questioned.

"If I can detect even the _slightest_ breeze, it will show me where the exit is," the midnight-green haired boy explained. He paused and felt for a breeze, then pointed towards a tunnel next to the one that Ash and Dawn came out of. "There, that way!"

"Yes!" Ash exclaimed, and started to walk down the tunnel.

"We don't know what's outside of the cave, Ash, so be careful," Khoury warned, and everyone started walking down the tunnel, but Lyra stayed behind, smiling to herself at her friend.

"Wow... Khoury's sure different from when we were at the Windworks," she said to herself, then giggled and ran ahead to catch up to the group. Using Khoury's finger as a guide, the four Pokémon Trainers were able to get out of the cave through the way they came in, and when saw the mouth of the cave and the daylight pouring through it, they all ran ahead and jumped into the outside, cheering loudly.

"We're out!" Ash cheered as they all took in a deep breath of the fresh air.

"It's great to be free!" Dawn added, stretching her arms out in the sunlight.

"And we all have Khoury to thank," Lyra reminded, turning towards her friend next to her. The boy blushed slightly and chuckled nervously, putting a hand behind his head bashfully. Suddenly, Dawn and Piplup exclaimed, and everyone whipped their hands around to look at her.

"What's up?" Ash asked her, and the Pokémon Coordinator pointed forward.

"Over there!" she answered, and everyone turned and looked into the field ahead. In the middle of it was Gible, windmilling one of its arms and staring right at the group.

"Gib, giiibble," it taunted, smirking at them.

"Gible sure looks ready for a fight!" Lyra commented, and beside her, Ash took out a Poké Ball from his belt and pressed the button in the center, enlarging it.

"Yeah, I'm ready, too!" he added. However, Khoury jumped in front of them, a Poké Ball already in his hand.

"I'm sorry Ash, but I'd like you to leave _this_ to me," he said, then rushed forward and approached Gible.

"No way! Khoury!" Ash began, but Dawn jumped next to him and put her hands on her hips.

"C'mon, let Khoury have a shot, y'know?" she suggested. Lyra also skidded up next to him, grinning widely.

"You can see he's _really_ into it," the brunette added. The spiky-haired Trainer looked at the two girls on either side of him, his eyebrows drooped down in disappointment. He opened his mouth to protest, but saw that he was outnumbered and put his Poké Ball away.

"Totodile, I need your help now!" Khoury exclaimed, tossing his Poké Ball forward. In a flash of light, the Big Jaw Pokémon appeared in between him and Gible, stretching its arms like a bodybuilder.

"Dile!" it cried as it finished stretching.

"Aqua Tail, let's go!" Khoury ordered, and the Big Jaw Pokémon leapt forward and whipped around, turning so its back was facing towards Gible. Its tail then became surrounded in a spiraling stream of water which grew bigger as it moved at the Land Shark Pokémon. However, Gible saw it coming and counterattacked, waving one of its arms, then the other with much more force, releasing a powerful Sandstorm towards Totodile. The Sandstorm and the Aqua Tail attack collided and fought with one another for a bit before the two attacks canceled each other out.

When Totodile jumped back, Gible's body became surrounded in a white aura, and it bent down, picking up a small rock that was about half the size of its body and tossed it at Totodile. "Now Gible's using Strength! Totodile, use Crunch!" The small Water-type immediately opened its mouth at Khoury's command and the lines of teeth in its mouth started to glow white. Totodile then caught the rock thrown from Gible in its mouth and crushed it in its powerful jaws, shattering it to pieces. "If this is a battle of brawn, then Totodile, use Superpower!" Like Gible, Totodile's body became surrounded in an aura, but a light blue one, and reached one of its hands down, picking up a rock slightly larger than the one that Gible had thrown and holding it up. It then tossed the rock forward, but Gible's entire arm started to glow white as it clenched its fists together, and it smashed the rock coming towards it with ease. After the shattered rock collapsed, the two Pokémon stared at each other for a bit and Khoury didn't order Totodile to do anything.

"Khoury, what's wrong?" Ash asked him.

"Khoury, go for it!" Dawn cheered, raising one of her arms and fist pumping.

"Don't give up!" Lyra added. Finally, Gible had enough and reached down as a white aura appeared around its body again, and picked up a rock nearby it. Instead of throwing it, however, it picked it up and smashed it over its head. It then put its hands on its hips and started laughing confidently. Like Gible, Totodile's body became surrounded in a light blue aura again and it picked up another rock, this one bigger than the one Gible smashed over its head, and smashed it over its own head. Also like Gible, it put its hands on its hips and laughed to show that it was unharmed. Suddenly, Gible glared at the Water Pokémon in front of it, determined to win the unofficial contest of brawn and stamina. Its body becoming surrounded by a white aura again, it lifted up a rock bigger than Totodile's and smashed it on its head. Totodile also glared at Gible, and did the same. The two went back and forth, each time picking up an even bigger rock than the other and smashing it over their heads.

"Don't give up, Totodile!" Khoury rooted as Gible picked up two large rocks in each hand, tears of pain forming in the corner of its eyes. It then smashed the two rocks over its head. Totodile, using Superpower, did the same, but with a pair of even bigger rocks, tears of pain forming in the corner of its eyes as well. Finally, Gible stumbled back, looking exhausted. It didn't give up, however, and reached out to a large rock sticking out of the ground. Its body started to glow with a white aura, and it lifted up the rock, and everyone gasped at its size. The rock itself wouldn't even be able to fit in the entrance to Wayward Cave behind them.

"No way!" Dawn exclaimed.

"It can't be!" Lyra gasped, putting a hand up to her mouth in surprise.

"That rock's too big!" Ash shouted.

"It'll crush Gible!" Khoury cried out in shock. Not able to hold the massive boulder anymore, Gible put its arm down, and the rock crashed down on its head. It stayed there for a second before a crack slithered its way up the middle of the rock, breaking it in half when it reached the top. The two halves collapsed on both sides of Gible, shaking the ground as they did, while the Land Shark Pokémon just stood there with wide eyes. It slowly laughed, but then couldn't take it anymore and collapsed on its back.

"Is it okay?" Ash asked, and everyone was quiet as they waited for Gible to move. However, the Pokémon started to flail its legs and arms and dig into the ground below.

"Gible used Dig to escape!" Khoury muttered.

"Woah... and we were so close!" Dawn replied.

"Khoury, get Gible out of there, quick!" Ash told the boy in front of him, but he was already one step ahead of him.

"Totodile, use Water Gun straight into the hole," Khoury instructed.

"Toto!" the Pokémon replied, and jumped forward, landing in front of the hole Gible made to escape and stuck its long jaw into it. It then released a stream of water from its mouth, instantly flooding the hole. A couple yards away, Gible shot out of the ground, lifted into the air by the Water Gun attack. It was too tired to escape, however, and it just laid on the Water Gun.

"Now, use Aqua Tail!" Stopping its Water Gun attack, Totodile leaped at Gible and turned around, a spiral of water spinning around Totodile's tail and it turned around as the water around it grew more. Totodile managed to slam the spiraling water into Gible as it was falling through the air, and the Land Shark Pokémon released a cry as it fell back, landing on the ground unable to move.

Seeing his opportunity, Khoury reached into his pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. "Alright, now go Poké Ball!" The red and white orb circled through the air until it hit Gible, and it rose into the air, opening up. Gible's body then turned into red energy and the Poké Ball opened up, sucking the Land Shark Pokémon inside it. Once the ball closed, it landed on the ground and shook back and forth, the silver button in the middle flashing red as Gible tried to escape from the ball. The Pokémon was too tired, however, and with a 'ping', a rain of rainbow-colored sparkles jumped off the Poké Ball, showing that Gible was successfully caught. Khoury gasped in disbelief and rushed up to the Poké Ball, picking it up and holding it high above his head. "I did it! I've caught Gible!" Lyra, Marill and Totodile cheered while Dawn and Ash smiled at him.

"Yeah, nice going, Khoury!" the spiky-haired Trainer congratulated.

"I was wrong: you're _lots_ tougher than I thought!" Lyra said to her friend.

"Wow, Khoury and Totodile! You two are a great team!" Dawn added.

"Well, I've got all of you guys to thank," the Pokémon Breeder replied bashfully, putting his hand behind his head, but a huge smile was plastered on his face as he held his new Pokémon's Poké Ball in his hand.

"Though we should probably get Gible back to the Pokémon Center," Lyra suggested. "That boulder slamming on its head _probably_ hurt a lot." Everyone laughed and nodded, and turned around to go back to Eterna City.

o 0 o

When they got back to the Pokémon Center, the sun was setting, leaving the sky a bright orange color. In the back, Brock and Nurse Joy were already preparing a barbeque for them, and Nurse Joy was quite surprised when Khoury told her that he had captured Gible. After overlooking it, she said that, aside from a slight headache, Gible would be just fine.

So, everyone moved out to the battlefield next to the center where Nurse Joy and Brock had set out a table and was cooking steak tips and kabobs on the grill. As Lyra made a plate for herself picking from the giant salad bowl, Marill sat on a stool, hungrily gazing at the food that was being cooked by the Pokémon Breeder. Below then, Pikachu and Gible were enjoying a big helping of Pokémon food, Khoury using the same ingredient he used before to lure Gible to the bait on his rod.

"Here you go, Khoury," Lyra said sweetly, handing her friend the plate she had prepared after Nurse Joy had given some of the food that had finished cooking. The boy turned around with a drink in his hand and smiled at her.

"Ah, thanks Lyra," he replied.

"Okay, folks! Next stop, Oreburgh City!" Brock announced as he waited for the food to cook.

"Your contest is coming up really soon!" Ash told Dawn, and the blue-haired girl nodded.

"Yeah! And now that Khoury finally caught Gible, I think it's the perfect time for me to earn my next ribbon!" she replied.

"Best of luck, Dane," Lyra cheered, looking at her with a smile on her face, but with a mouthful of food.

"We'll be there rooting for you," Khoury added.

"Awesome!" Dawn exclaimed, raising her fork in her hand in the air. Piplup also raised one of its wings in the air, mimicking her. "Now I'm _really_ ready!"

* * *

Well, here you go, guys! Extra long chapter for you! Think of it as a... reward for waiting for so long for me to update. I still feel badly about making you guys wait three months for an update. -_- Just make sure you have some time on your hands before reading this chapter. XD But anyways, Khoury caught a new Pokémon! Say hello to our new friend Gible! Both him and Totodile are confident in their strength, and are like bodybuilders, so you can bet there's gonna be some Pokémon rivalry between the two. Anybody noticing a pattern with Khoury's Pokémon? They all seem to be confident in their strength while Khoury... is the exact opposite. X) Speaking of which, if you have any suggestions for Pokémon you think he should get, let me know in a review or something, because I'm having some trouble deciding, haha.

I'd really like to thank my readers and reviewers as well. You're all amazing for reading this story. :) Thank you so much!

So, next chapter is the big Pokémon Contest! And I'm so excited! I've never written a Pokémon Contest before! This could go either really good, or really bad. Hopefully it goes good. ^-^ Will Dawn win her final ribbon to be able to get into the Grand Festival, or will she lose and have to try again? Find out next chapter! Thank you again so much for reading and reviewing, and I will see you next update!


	37. Pokémon Contest! Oreburgh Tournament!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP146: Dressed for Jess Success! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 34**

It only took a half a day's time to get to Oreburgh City the next day. The Pokémon Center was nice enough to let them borrow a bunch of bikes to go down Cycling Road with, so they got to the southern city much faster than they would have on foot.

The city itself was covered with buildings, and had a musky coal-like smell to it, but Lyra didn't mind it one bit. Following Ash, Dawn and Brock, the group arrived at the Pokémon Center there and gave the Nurse Joy of the city their bikes. "Hey Ash, I need a training partner so I can brush up on a few of my moves. Are you in?" Dawn asked the spiky-haired boy, and he smiled and nodded.

"Sure! No problem!" he replied, and the group walked into the back of the Pokémon Center where they had a battlefield. Lyra, Khoury and Brock stayed off to the side and waited for Ash and Dawn to get on the battlefield. Smiling, Dawn took out a Poké Ball and tossed it forward.

"Alright Mamoswine, spotlight!" she called, and from out of her Poké Ball, a huge, brown Pokémon with a pig-like nose and two long tusks coming out from the sides of its mouth appeared.

"Wow, Dane, that's some Pokémon you got there!" Lyra complimented as an excited smile formed across Khoury's face and he took out his Pokédex to scan the creature. **"Mamoswine, the Twin Tusk Pokémon, and the evolved form of Piloswine. Distinguished by its large tusks, its weight is more than five times that of Piloswine, and is less commonly found since the end of the Ice Age."**

"Now it's my turn," Ash said, selecting his own Poké Ball from his belt. "Grotle, I choose you!" In a flash of white light, the green and yellow turtle Pokémon burst out from the ball, calling its name as it appeared. This time, it was Lyra's turn to take out her Pokédex. **"Grotle, the Grove Pokémon, and the evolved form of Turtwig. Grotle lives near water in forests, and leaves the forest during the day to allow light to shine on the tree on its shell."** "Ready, Dawn?"

"Yeah, Ash!"

"'Kay, Energy Ball!" the boy commanded, and the two bushes on its back started to glow brightly as the Grove Pokémon opened its mouth, forming a green energy orb in front of its mouth.

"Mamoswine, Ice Shard!" Dawn countered, and the large Pokémon opened its gaping mouth right away, forming a bright and beautiful round circle of ice in between its tusks.

"Let's go!" both Ash and Dawn said together, and to both Lyra and Khoury's surprise, the two Pokémon lurched forward and ate their own attacks.

"Woah, they _ate_ them?" the brunette exclaimed.

"Why'd they do that?" Khoury questioned, flabbergasted.

"It all began back with an energy charge that Grotle discovered by accident," Brock explained. Just then, the bushes on Grotle's back started to shine light green brightly and release sparkles of light green particles off the bushes. Each leaf seemed to surge with green electricity as well. Meanwhile, the fur on Mamoswine's back spiked out and each spike became covered in ice. "You see, if a Pokémon swallows a move that's the same type as itself, and then releases the energy throughout its body..."

"Yes!" Ash cheered as the spikes formed on Mamoswine's back. Pikachu also cheered. At her feet, Dawn's Piplup and Cyndaquil gasped at the move, and a big smile grew across Dawn's face.

"It worked great!" she cried.

"Amazing!" Lyra commented, fascinated by the technique.

"Mamoswine really gets it now!" Brock told them, nodding with approval.

"One surprise after another," Khoury added. Rearing for battle, Mamoswine started to slam its front foot into the ground and drag it across the ground. This made the ice sticking out of its back sparkle brilliantly in the afternoon sun.

"What do you think, Ash?" Dawn asked her friend. Ash ran forward and stopped next to his Grotle.

"You guys got it down!" he told them, and beside him, the energy surging through the bushes on Grotle's back faded.

"Grotle!" his Pokémon agreed, nodding and grinning at Mamoswine.

"Thanks, you two!" Dawn thanked, walking up beside her Mamoswine as well. She looked and her Pokémon and grinned. "Mamoswine, we did it!"

"Mamoswine," the Pokémon replied, bobbing its head up and down at its Trainer.

"Quil, quil!" Cyndaquil cried, running up in front of Dawn and waving its arms.

"Hey, Cyndaquil, what's wrong?" Dawn asked it. Taking in a deep breath, the Fire Mouse Pokémon curled its back slightly and released the fire on its back, but the fire shot out in a v-shape and extended more than its usual flames did.

"Awesome!" Ash commented.

"That's amazing, Cyndaquil!" the Coordinator praised, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

"I know what Cyndaquil wants: to be in a contest," Brock said to her.

"Oh," Dawn muttered, and kneeled down to her Pokémon, who was still producing the flames on its back. "Cyndaquil, I'm sorry. I really want you to watch us from the audience." The Pokémon gasped and the fire on its back disappeared as it looked at its Trainer in surprise. It then fell forward onto its stomach in disappointment. "I was already planning to compete with Mamoswine, see? Here's my strategy: Piplup, you're a pro on stage, so we'll use _your_ pretty moves for Round one!" Piplup proudly put its wings on its hips and stuck out its chest in confidence while Cyndaquil puffed out its cheeks in disapproval. Dawn then turned and looked at her Mamoswine. "For Round two, you'll show off your flashy battle moves." Mamoswine let out a confident puff of air from its nose, but Cyndaquil didn't want to hear it and turned its head away from them.

"Aw, someone's a brat," Lyra commented, smiling nervously at the Fire-type Pokémon. Dawn, however, smiled and reached forward, picking up her Pokémon.

"Sweet Cyndaquil," she muttered, and it looked at her. "See, if you cheer us on, you'll really energize us! And then the Oreburgh Ribbon is as good as ours! 'Kay, dear?" She then pulled the Pokémon in and hugged it tightly, but Piplup's eyes widened at the sight of them and started flailing its arms in jealousy. Cyndaquil grinned widely and suddenly shot the flames on its back up, and Dawn screamed as the fire flared up.

"Dane, are you okay?" Lyra gasped. Dawn coughed a bit, and turned to Lyra, smiling nervously at her. Like before, her hair had puffed up from the intense heat and looked like a blue cloud around her face.

"No need to worry," she replied, then a confident look appeared on her face. "I know this: today, I get my fifth ribbon!"

o 0 o

Back inside the Pokémon Center, Lyra and Dawn tried their hardest, and after a while, they managed to get Dawn's hair back down into its regular shape. Dawn let out a sigh of relief after it was down, and looked down at the red Pokétch on her wrist to look at the time. Suddenly, she gasped and jumped up. "Oh no! The Contest starts in an hour! And I still have to get ready!" Quickly gathering everyone up, Dawn rushed out as fast as she could and the group ran down the streets, narrowly avoiding people on the sidewalk as they ran to keep up with Dawn.

Finally, they arrived at the Contest Hall, a tall round building that was pink with a flattened dome-like blue roof on the top. "We should let Dawn change with the other Coordinators and save our seats," Brock suggested. The others nodded and they walked out into the arena. Lyra and Khoury both gasped when they walked in at the size of the area. All around the area along three of the walls were rows of seats for people to sit in. A handful of people were sitting in a desired seat already to save it. In the middle was a huge battle arena with a polished floor. Directly in front of them, on the wall that didn't have any seats was a huge flat screen monitor that was turned off at the moment. Below it, there was an archway with a turquoise curtain in front of it, and on both sides, there were two huge flower beds with orange, pink, purple and green flowers that made a beautiful design. In between the monitor and the curtain was a large design made of yellow, pink, green and white flowers made to look like a contest ribbon, and it was very successful in looking like one.

The group looked around to see if they could find a seat up front for everyone, and amazingly, there were a handful of seats that were open, so the group dropped their bags on their seats to save them and sat, waiting for the contest to begin. Brock sat at the end, and to his left was Ash. Beside him, Lyra sat, and Khoury next to her. As the minutes rolled by, people started to flood in and take their seats around them. Finally, an hour had passed and it was time for the contest to begin. As everyone sat down, a loud popping noise was heard outside as fireworks were launched, and a woman with curly brown hair that was chin-length and a yellow and pink outfit walked out, holding a microphone in her hand. "We should go find Dawn and wish her luck," Ash suggested. Everyone agreed and they stood up and through the crowd of people. As they walked through the hallway, the speakers and monitors scattered around the hallways still let them know what was going on in the main arena.

**"The flowering beauty of Oreburgh City beckons, and welcomes you to the star-studded, **_**flower**_**-studded Contest stage, where Pokémon will shine and Coordinators compete,"** the MC began, and everyone in the audience began to cheer loudly. **"Ladies and gentlemen, your patience will be rewarded because it's **_**finally**_** time for the Oreburgh City Pokémon Contest! And of course, today we are coming to you live and in person, right from Oreburgh City!"** The MC then reached into the pocket of her long yellow jacket and held up a Ribbon with a metal gold piece that looked was shaped almost like a top hat with a small crown sticking out of the top. In the middle, there was a large ruby gem, and the cloth was pink with white stripes at the tips. **"Our winning Contest Coordinator will receive this: the prestigious Oreburgh Ribbon! And after winning five Contest Ribbons Coordinators are eligible to compete in the Grande Festival!"**

As she held out the Ribbon, Lyra's eyebrows raised at the sight of it, and just then, Ash found the room where the Coordinators were and opened the door to walk in. They looked around for a moment to find her, but Ash caught sight of her right away. "Hi there, Dawn," he said, and a girl in front of them turned around and smiled at them.

"Hey guys!" she said, and Lyra realized that it was Dawn. She looked completely unrecognizable in her bright pink dress. There was a line of white fur around the chest and arms of the dress that held it up, and three red bows on the front of it. Around her neck was a black choker with a smaller bow on it as well. She also wore long white gloves. Her blue hair was pulled up into a perfect ponytail, and her yellow hair clips were at the sides of her face, holding a section of hair that corkscrewed and danced on her shoulders.

"Wow!" Lyra gasped as she looked at her friend. "Dane, you look so pretty!" Dawn laughed nervously at her comment.

"Really?"

"Yeah! You're number one of the bunch, no doubt!" Lyra added, looking around. She then looked at Ash beside her and sneered sneakily at him. "Hey Ash, don't you think so, too?"

"Of course she's number one! Because Dawn's gonna win!" Ash replied, clenching his fist confidently and smiling at the girl in front of him.

"That's for sure!" Dawn agreed, and Lyra frowned as the spiky-haired boy completely misinterpreted her question.

"That's not what I meant by number one..." she muttered, and turned around and looked at Brock and Khoury behind her. "It went over Ash's head, didn't it?" Brock chuckled and nodded at her.

"And Dawn's, too," he added, and Lyra turned back and saw that Dawn wasn't even affected by her teasing at all.

"Hey, thanks a lot, Ash! I know today's the day for my fifth Ribbon!" she said to him.

"Yeah, show 'em how, Dawn!" he cheered, and both of them reached forward and gave each other a high-five.

"Alright!" they cried at the same time, and Lyra smiled at them.

"Like two peas in a pod," she mumbled to herself, and chuckled. In the corner of the room, movement caught her eye, and she saw a woman in an orange and cream dress that was a little old-fashion, but still fashionable. Her belt was tied around so a large yellow bow was tied in the back of it, and the woman's magenta-colored hair was tied in two pigtails with matching yellow bows. On the woman's shoulder was a Meowth, but she was facing away and standing slouched over and facing the corner. Seeing her, Lyra smiled and walked up to the woman. "Wow, I think your dress is so cute!" the brunette complimented. Ash and Dawn turned to see who Lyra was talking to, and they both smiled when they saw her.

"Hey look! Jessilina!" the blue-haired girl stated, and the woman whipped around and smiled at them, but somewhat nervously.

"Oh, hello!" she replied in a strange voice, and sounded as if she was a man with a high-pitched voice. On her face were a pair of large round paper glasses that were orange and yellow, and strangely, a blue strand of hair hung down from her hair in between her eyes.

"You know each other?" Lyra asked Dawn and Ash. The blue-haired girl nodded, and Lyra took a step forward to examine her unique dress more. "Oh, cool!" Jessilina stood up straight and watched nervously as Lyra overlooked her dress. The brunette reached out and placed her hand under the loose black shoelace bow tie tied around the dress's neck. "This outfit is adorable!" She then looked up and smiled, looking right into Jessilina's green eyes. "So where did you get it?"

"Well... you see..." she started, though she looked extremely nervous for some reason. "Uh... The store name escapes me!" She then darted through the group and lifted her leg up. "Okay then, ta ta for now!" And with a strange cackle that sounded somewhat maniacal, she opened up the door exiting the room and jumped out.

"Well... that was weird," Lyra commented. "Is she always that nervous?"

"Actually, she's usually anything but," Dawn replied, putting her hands on her hips. "She must be having an off day."

**"So, let's begin Round one!"** the MC, who's name was Marian, began again. **"Each Coordinator's Pokémon will display an array of dazzling moves on the Performance Stage!"**

"Oh! The Contest is about to begin!" Dawn gasped, and reached into the pocket of her dress and pulled out a shrunken Poké Ball. "Can you let Cyndaquil out when you get to your seats?" Ash reached out to take the Poké Ball, but Lyra's hand whipped out like lightning and she snatched the Poké Ball up, holding it in her fingers confidently.

"You bet, Dane! Break a leg!" she said, and the group walked out of the room and rushed back to their seats in the audience. Pressing the button in the middle, Lyra tossed the Poké Ball into the air above them. "Alright Cyndaquil, come on out!" The Poké Ball opened and released a light that poured out onto the edge of the wall separating the arena from the audience, and Cyndaquil appeared, looking around for its Trainer.

"You ready to watch your first Contest, Cyndaquil?" Ash asked it, and it nodded, turning around. Pikachu jumped off Ash's lap as well and jumped up beside it, sitting down in between Lyra and Khoury.

**"And here's Entrant number one! You're on!"** Marian called, gesturing her arm towards the curtain and moving off the arena. The curtain opened up and standing in the middle was Dawn, smiling confidently out into the audience as everyone cheered with excitement.

"Alright! There's Dane!" Lyra stated.

"Go Dawn! Show 'em!" Ash cried. Khoury turned and looked at him and Brock with a questioning look on his face.

"So what's the Performance Stage?" he asked them.

"It's the round where the Coordinators see who shows off their Pokémon and their moves the best," Brock explained to them.

"You'll see; just wait!" Ash added, looking forward as Dawn began, pulling out an already enlarged Poké Ball.

"Piplup, spotlight!" The Poké Ball soared through the air, and Lyra noticed that it looked a little darker than regular Poké Balls. Then, it stopped spinning and she saw a sticker on the front of it just above the button that was in the shape of a white star with a purple outline. When the Poké Ball opened up, when it released the bright light, it also released blue, gold, pink and purple stars from inside. When the light faded around Piplup, little stars came off its body.

"How could a _Poké Ball_ do that?" Lyra inquired.

"That's comes from what's called a Ball Capsule and Seal, which can create all sorts of different special effects and make the Pokémon's entrance really shine!" Brock explained.

"Wow..." both Lyra and Khoury muttered in fascination.

"Say, that's what I call cool!" the male added.

"Now Piplup, Whirlpool, go!" Dawn ordered, raising her hand in the air. Piplup pointed its beak and both of its wings into the air and its body started to glow light blue. Just then, a huge whirlpool rose out from Piplup's body and hovered above its hands. When the whirlpool formed, the glow around Piplup's body disappeared, and it jumped up slight, causing the whirlpool to fly high into the air. "Follow it with Bide!" Lowering its arms, Piplup crouched its body together and a white glow outlined the Penguin Pokémon's body.

"Piplup's using Bide?" Lyra asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"Yeah, but Piplup's not being attacked by anyone..." Khoury added, who was equally confused.

**"Piplup's Whirlpool coming straight down on it!"** Marian exclaimed as the attack started to fall down on top of the Penguin Pokémon. With a huge splash, the Whirlpool crashed over Piplup, but instead of sucking it in, Piplup went through the whirlpool and stuck out of the middle at the top. The Bide attack also absorbed some of the Whirlpool's power, and its body became surrounded by a beautiful water-like blue glow. **"And now, Bide and Whirlpool have joined forces, leaving Piplup glowing in an intense blue from the energy reaction!"** Finally, the Whirlpool and Bide attacks faded, and Piplup landed on the ground gracefully as the crowd began to cheer loudly. Dawn ran up and grinned at her Pokémon.

"Piplup, we did it!" she told it, and the Pokémon put its wings on its hands proudly.

"They sure nailed that one!" Ash commented beside Lyra. Pikachu and Cyndaquil muttered and nodded in agreement.

"It was really obvious Dawn wanted to show off Piplup's blue body, don't you think?" Khoury asked everyone, and Lyra also nodded.

"I thought so too," she agreed. She grinned and pointed her finger up as if she finally understood what was going on. "Wow, I guess you could say the first round is kinda like a talent show!"

"Works for me!" Khoury replied, smacking the side of his fist in his opened hand in realization.

"A talent show..?" Ash muttered beside them, then both him and Brock chuckled nervously to themselves.

"That truly was an impressive example of a performance of the highest caliber," one of the judges, a man with his dark hair with streaks of gray in it slicked back, said. He wore a red suit with a black bow tie.

"Remarkable, too!" the judge in the middle added. He was a short man with squinted eyes and wearing a indigo-colored suit.

"The synchronicity between Coordinator and Pokémon was perfect!" the last judge, the Nurse Joy of Oreburgh City, stated, and everyone in the audience began to cheer once again for Dawn and Piplup.

**"Thank you, Judges!"** Marian thanked, and Dawn bowed to the audience and her and Piplup walked out through the curtain from which they entered. **"Now, Entrant number two, you're next!"** As Marian moved off the stage, a man wearing a fedora with a red feather sticking out from the side stepped out. He wore a red vest with a sky blue button-up shirt. He reached into the pocket on the inside of his vest and pulled out a Poké Ball already in a Ball Capsule.

"Sentret, let's go!" he called, tossing his Poké Ball through the air. The Poké Ball opened up and a white light poured from the inside. However, along with the light, multiple pink hearts also came out with it, spinning around the light as it landed on the ground. Finally, the light faded and a brown Pokémon with long rabbit-like black ears and a long ringed tail appeared on the stage. The Pokémon stood up on its tail and opened its arms.

"Sentret!" the Pokémon cried, and the hearts surrounding its body scattered and disappeared as they hit the ground.

"Now Sentret, Hyper Voice!" the man commanded. Taking in a deep breath, the Pokémon opened its mouth and let out a loud cry. As it did, it released multiple light blue circles of energy from its mouth. As the rings moved through the air, they expanded and grew larger.

**"By using Hyper Voice, Sentret's really showing us why it's known for its loud, shrill call!" **Marian commented, wincing and trying to cover her ears with her hands while still holding the microphone in her hand.

"Now Sentret, Defense Curl and Rollout!" The Scout Pokémon nodded and quickly curled its body into a ball. It then began to roll in place at a high speed, and it dashed forward, speeding at the rings from the Hyper Voice and leaping inside them. Right away, it seemed as if Sentret had its own gravitational pull and the rings hooked onto it. As it landed, the rings followed it, and they stayed with it as Sentret rolled around the stage in the shape of a Figure Eight.

**"Oh my! The Hyper Voice attack seems to be following Sentret around! It looks like a pinball moving at supersonic speeds!" **Finally, after a bit, Sentret bounced high into the air. When the rings followed it, it quickly broke free of its Defense Curl and Rollout combination, and the energy from the Hyper Voice that was following it broke apart with light blue static briefly surrounding the Scout Pokémon's body. After the energy fizzled away, Sentret somersaulted as fell, and landed gracefully on its tail, holding out its arms as if it was saying 'Ta da!' The crowd cheered at the performance and the Trainer walked up to his Pokémon, petting it happily.

"Wow, that was so cool!" Lyra commented.

"Normally, when Defense Curl is used before Rollout, it powers it up, but he used it as a combination, right?" Khoury asked Brock.

"Yeah. Keep in mind that the Performance Stage is for Coordinators to show off their Pokémon and moves, and this Trainer knew exactly what he was doing," he reminded. "Sentret is known for its high-pitched voice and its flexible body, so he used both of those to his advantage."

"This performance was quite unique, and made me remember why Sentret is called 'the Scout Pokémon'," the red-suited judge said.

"Remarkable!" the middle judge simply stated.

"Sentret has many marvelous qualities, and you showed off each and every one here in just a short couple of minutes. Great job!" Nurse Joy praised, smiling at the Trainer. He grinned and bowed to the three judges before moving off the stage with his Sentret.

**"Great job, Entrant number two, but let's clear the stage for... Entrant number three!"** As Marian said this, the curtain opened up and a woman wearing a long white shirt and a matching pale red skirt stepped out on stage. She ran her hands through her dark red hair nervously before pulling out a pink Poké Ball with yellow markings on it and a blue rim and button instead of a black one. It was also darkened and there was a teardrop-shaped pink sticker on the top of it. The woman took a deep breath and began.

"Jumpluff, it's you now!" she cried, and the ball opened up. Not only did a white light pour out from the ball, but this time a rainfall of delicate pink petals came out. As the light cleared, a blue Pokémon with three stems sticking out of the top and sides of its body appeared and floated delicately in the air. The stems each had puffy white seeds sticking out from them, and the two stems at its sides acted as its hands. It also spun in the air, showing off that it was as light as a feather. The petals also spun around it gently from the light breeze that was produced by its spinning.

**"Without even having to use any moves, Jumpluff is already receiving an 'ah' from the audience as it shows us how light it is,"** Marian commented, watching Jumpluff as it spun.

"Now Jumpluff, break out and use Stun Spore!" the woman instructed. The Cottonweed Pokémon let out a gleeful cry as it floated down from the petals. As it did, the petals followed the slight breeze it produced. However, Jumpluff faced the petals and raised both of its arms, as well as the stem on its head, at them and released a sparkling light yellow powder from the three flowers on the end of the stems on its body. As the petals hit, they were pushed up, and the powder latched onto them. As they moved, the gold powder caused the petals to sparkle beautifully. "Finally, let's wrap this up with Secret Power!"

"Jumpluff!" the Pokémon cried out, and floated back up, getting right in the middle of the flower petals and started spinning around once again. As the petals were picked up in the breeze, the Pokémon's body started to glow bright pink. The glow shined brightly, and the sparkly dust on the petals glittered, bringing out the pink in the flowers and around Jumpluff. Finally, Jumpluff slowly floated to the ground, the flower petals following it down and fading as they did. The crowd applauded the two at their performance, and everyone's heads turned to the judge's table to hear what they had to say.

"Beautiful beyond words, my dear. It's hard to tell that this is your first Pokémon Contest!" the red-suited judge told her, smiling warmly at her.

"Simply remarkable!" the middle judge added, and said nothing more.

"Showing that Jumpluff can move through the air easily, and using the Flora Seal as replacement petals really showed off both Jumpluff's Grass and Flying-type qualities," Nurse Joy commented, and the crowd began to cheer once again. The girl thanked the judges, bowing to them many times before recalling Jumpluff into its Heal Ball.

"Boy, a lot of these performances are wicked good. I just hope they _all_ aren't as good as these ones, for Dane's sake," Lyra muttered to herself, biting to herself as she watched the girl disappear backstage.

**"Quite an amazing performance. Now, Entrant number four, you're up!"** Marian called, and gestured at the curtain. As it rose, a man with dark purple hair that stood up on the back of his head like a cowlick. He wore a dark green suit with a red bow tie around his neck. With a smirk of confidence, he pulled an Ultra Ball out with a sticker of a red X on the front.

"I choose Tyranitar!" he called, tossing the Poké Ball onto the stage. The ball opened up and a huge green dinosaur-like Pokémon with a blue stomach came out of the light. Around it, multiple vertical red lines appeared, and when the Pokémon cried out, the lines shot up into the air and exploded in a barrage of red particles.

"Woah, a Tyranitar!" Khoury exclaimed, and Lyra gasped at the size of the Pokémon.

"I wouldn't want to meet that thing late at night," she commented as it began the performance.

"Tyranitar, Double Team attack!" the Coordinator commanded, and the giant Armor Pokémon's body immediately started to glow white. It then split into three of the same Pokémon, and each of them roared out fiercely. "Now, use Scary Face!" Each of the three Tyranitar turned towards each other, then glared out towards the audience, each one looking at a different section.

**"That look just sends shivers down your back, doesn't it? Tyranitar is showing us that it isn't a Pokémon we should be messing with," **Marian commented, holding her arms and shivering. The crowd was completely quiet as the Tyranitars glared at them, but in the distance, a baby in the audience started to cry. Hearing the cry, the Coordinator smirked once again and snapped his fingers.

"Let's wrap this up with Sandstorm, Tyranitar!" Still using Scary Face, the three Tyranitar raised up their arms and heads up into towards the ceiling and a wind filled with sand appeared and spun around them until they were completely enveloped with a sand tornado. The three tornadoes then slowly started to move towards each other. When they met in the middle, they clashed for a moment before slowly forming into one tornado in the middle of the stage. With another snap of his fingers, the Sandstorm faded, and the one Tyranitar stood in the middle. The crowd clapped while looking around at each other with conflicting looks on their face.

"That was... quite the performance," Lyra remarked, clapping along with everybody.

"Yeah..." Ash replied, laughing nervously as the judges cleared their voices to speak.

"Like Marian said, your Tyranitar is not a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure," the male judge said.

"Remarkable!" the small judge with the buzz cut added.

"Your performance was good, but it didn't seem like you and Tyranitar were all that synchronized," Nurse Joy concluded, and the Coordinator frowned slightly at her comment, but nodded and him and his Tyranitar turned around and walked back behind the curtain.

**"Moving along, Entrant number five, you're up!"** Marian announced, and the turquoise curtain opened up once again. This time, a girl with her wisteria-colored hair tied up into two loose pigtails at the back of her head wearing an elegant sky blue dress stepped out, Poké Ball already in hand.

"Magby, dazzle us!" the girl cried, tossing the Poké Ball, which had a pale blue flame-like sticker on it. As the red and white ball opened, the burst of light that released the Pokémon was surrounded in a ring of ominous, pale blue fire balls. The light faded and a small red Pokémon with a yellow belly and a duck-like bill appeared.

"Magby!" the Live Coal Pokémon called, and the blue flames spun around it.

"Jump and use Flamethrower!" Obeying its Trainer, the Pokémon leaped out of the ring of flames and whipped around, turning towards the fire balls as it landed. Taking in a deep breath, it released a stream of red-yellow fire with rings of red fire around it from its mouth at the fireballs. The fire hit the pale blue fire balls. When it did, Magby turned its head, making the fire curl around the fireballs and absorbing them into the Flamethrower attack. The red fire mixed with the blue fire, and a ominous purple and yellow fire flickered on the stage.

**"What is this! It seems the blue and red flames have merged together to form a beautiful lilac flame!"** Marian exclaimed. **"The question is, now what will Magby do?"**

"Fire Punch now!"

"Magby!" the Pokémon replied, nodding its head and rushing towards the flames, pulling back one of its clenched fists. It then became surrounded in a red-yellow flame, and it skimmed it along the edge of the purple flames. As it spun, its other fist became surrounded in flames as well, and it did the same thing with the other fist. Finally, it looked towards the audience, holding out its fists as the purple flames danced along its hands. The crowd clapped as Magby flexed, showing off both the flames on its hands and its muscles. After everyone calmed down and the fire had faded from the stage and Magby's fists, everyone turned to the judges.

"What you did with the flames was impressive, but the end of the performance seemed to lack a proper ending," the judge criticized.

"The flames were remarkable," the middle judge told her.

"I agree with what Mr. Contesta said, but other than that, you did a very good job," Nurse Joy stated.

"Thank you all," the girl replied politely, curtseying before her and Magby exited the stage.

**"And now, Entrant number six: come on out!"** Marian announced, and she gestured towards the curtain. As it opened, a young man with long blond hair stepped out, wearing a light blue vest over his white shirt. The shoulders of the shirt puffed out, and the collars were frilled out. He wore black tight pants, and he walked out elegantly. He looked almost like a prince.

"Oh wow! Isn't he dreamy?" Lyra gasped, clasping her hands by her face. Her eyes widened with joy as he pulled out a Poké Ball from his pocket and held it close to his cheek. With a faint smile, he tossed the ball into the air. On the front, it had a light green lightning bolt sticker on the front.

"Hitmontop, you're in charge!" the Coordinator called. The ball opened up, and in a flash of light, a brown and light blue Pokémon that had a single horn on the top of its head and a long tail appeared. A large amount of light green lightning bolts also appeared around Hitmontop's body. "Hitmontop, Rapid Spin!"

"Hitmontop!" the Pokémon cried, flipping around so it was balancing on the horn on its head, then started spinning around rapidly.

"And now Triple Kick!" Hitmontop started to spin faster on its head, almost like a top, and it reached its legs, and its tail, which was acting as a third leg, out. The legs kicked the green lightning bolts away, instantly shattering them with its strength and turning them into particles that fell over it.

"Hitmon... top!" the Handstand Pokémon called, swinging one of its legs forward for effect as it sped up and bounced high into the air.

"Now, let's wrap this up with Gyro Ball!" the Coordinator commanded, and the blue parts of Hitmontop's legs and tail started to glow bright blue as it spun, making it seem like a circle of blue was around it. The light from the Gyro Ball caused the sparkles from the shattered lightning bolts to brighten up and reflect, and it seemed like someone had shattered a disco ball into dust and misted it down over the stage. Finally, Hitmontop flipped back around and landed on the ground, striking a pose for the finish. The audience gasped at the performance and clapped for the pair.

**"Wow! What a performance! Now let's see what the judges have to say,"** Marian commented, and looked at them. Like before, the judge Nurse Joy had referred to as Mr. Contesta began.

"I liked it. It was short, sweet, and to the point. Sometimes it's the quickest performances that get you far," he stated.

"Remarkable!" the smaller judge in the middle added.

"You really showed off Hitmontop's unique characteristics, and its Gyro Ball was beautiful as well," Nurse Joy complimented, smiling at the Coordinator. He smiled back at her, and shook his Hitmontop's hand as the two walked offstage.

"Boy, if Dane doesn't win this Contest, I sure hope _he_ does," Lyra commented, gazing lovingly at the Coordinator as he stepped behind the curtain.

"You're just saying that because he's good-looking," Khoury groaned, scratching his head in embarrassment.

"How can you even say that, Lyra? Of course Dawn's gonna win!" Ash responded to the brunette confidently, then looked at Cyndaquil and Pikachu. "Right?"

"Cynda!"

"Pika!" the two Pokémon answered, nodding their head.

**"Now our next Coordinator!" **Marian announced, gesturing her arm to the curtain. **"You're on!"** The crowd cheered as the curtains rose, and the woman from before, Jessilina, was standing in the doorway, looking out at the crowd nervously. She stood there for a moment before taking a running start and putting her hands behind her back.

"Alrighty then, Meowth! Rock and roll!" she cried in her high-pitched shrilly voice. Instead of pulling out a Poké Ball, however, the Scratch Cat Pokémon jumped out from behind her, jumping on her head and taking out its claws.

"Meowth!" it cried, leaping off the top of Jessilina's head and onto the stage.

**"An entrance without a Ball Capsule! Unique!" **Marian commented as she watched Meowth jump through the air.

"This goes out to all the little fans in T.V. land! Meowth, use Fury Swipes!" she ordered, and tossed forward a large cream-colored ball, which was what she held behind her back. As the ball was thrown up to Meowth, the Pokémon produced its claws and they started to glow white. It then repeatedly slashed the ball with furious intent.

**"Look at that Fury Swipes go!" **Marian exclaimed.

"Woah, now that's what I would call 'lightning fast speed'!" Lyra said in amazement as she watched it continue to slash at the ball. Finally, with one last vertical slash of its paw, Meowth stopped and the ball broke apart into small, thin strings. Running forward, Jessilina pulled out what she was holding in her other hand: three bowls filled with a brown broth. Throwing one bowl into the air, she placed the other two in both of her hands and effortlessly caught some of the strings that fell. Her Pokémon also caught the bowl she threw up in its paws and caught what was left of it, and Lyra realized that Meowth had made noodles out of a round ball of dough. After catching everything, Jessilina kneeled down and Meowth landed on her head, the two of them holding the bowls in their hands. The crowd cheered as loud as they possibly could for the performance as Jessilina stood up and got a tray from the side of the stage, with three pairs of chopsticks all wrapped in a napkin and walked over to the judge's table,

**"A standing ovation! The audience is going wild after seeing a performance style that's fresh and new, sending the normal fare of Contest performances on its head!"** the MC raved as Jessilina handed out the three bowls to each of the three judges.

"Here you go," she sang, and placed the tray under her arm. "It's Meowth's Noodle Special, so please eat up while it's still hot!"

"Meowth!" the Pokémon on Jessilina's head responded as the judges looked down at the bowls.

"Looks good!" Ash commented beside Lyra.

"And served up with amazing finesse as well," Brock added. Lyra nodded as the hypothesis she made earlier was proven even more.

"You see? It _is_ a talent show!" she told them.

"Such an unusual performance," the boy next to her muttered to himself, however. The crowd was silent as the judges tried some of it.

"Who would have thought using _Fury Swipes_ could make delicious noodles!" Mr. Contesta praised.

"Remarkable, too!" the smaller judge said, sipping some of the broth. Next to him, Nurse Joy sipped some of hers as well.

"The noodles are _al dente_," she complimented with a bright grin on her face. "Great broth, too." After hearing the judges' comments, the crowd once again cheered and whistled, and Jessilina stood in the middle of the stage, waving her arms to the crowd in thanks. Meowth was also waving its arms on her head, a big smile planted on its face.

**"Thank you for that wonderful performance! I'd hate to be the person that's coming on stage after her, ladies and gentlemen!" **Marian said, and waited for Jessilina to go back stage before calling out the next person. **"Okay, next!" **From behind the curtain, a young man with dark maroon hair that shaped around his face stepped out. He wore a blue suit with a matching light blue bow tie around his neck. Pulling out a Poké Ball, he tossed it forward, and Lyra noticed it had a sticker on it that looked like three red misshapen rectangles on it.

"Now, Granbull, go!" he called. The Poké Ball opened and the light from the Poké Ball poured down and formed into a large purple dog-like Pokémon with a huge bottom jaw. A large amount of confetti was also released from the Poké Ball and it fluttered down onto the battlefield. He smirked with confidence and began his appeal. "Okay Granbull, use Bite to collect all the confetti that's falling!"

"Gran!" the Pokémon replied, and, getting down on all fours, it dashed around the arena snapping its jaws as it rushed around and collecting all of the confetti in its mouth. Finally, after a short time passed by, it stopped. When it stood back up and grinned at the audience, the shiny red confetti lined its bottom jaw like a retainer.

"Now, use Fire Fang!" the Coordinator ordered. Granbull snapped its jaws and suddenly, the Fairy Pokémon's whole bottom jaw blazed with a red-yellow fire. The colors from the confetti then blended in with the fire, turning it into a sparkling rose color. The audience let out a 'ooh' at the flames as they flickered across Granbull's jaw.

**"Wow, what a beautiful color! The color from the confetti has influenced the Fire Fang's flames into a wonderful, rich rose color!"**

"Okay, now, Thunder Fang!" Granbull nodded and the two long fangs sticking out of its mouth started to glow bright yellow, and the fire sparkled with yellow static brilliantly. With a snap of its jaw, both attacks instantly faded, and the audience cheered loudly for the pair.

"Who knew that Fire Fang and Thunder Fang would make such a wonderful combination outside of battle," Mr. Contesta remarked.

"Remarkable!" the middle judge agreed.

"Let's not forget Granbull's speed! It takes a quick Pokémon to have collected all of the pieces of confetti that fell from the Poké Ball," Nurse Joy complimented.

"Thank you very much," the Coordinator thanked, him and his Granbull bowing their heads to them. He recalled his Granbull into its Poké Ball and walked backstage.

**"A wonderful performance. Now, can the next Entrant please come out?"** As Marian gestured, a male Coordinator with his spiky brown hair that stuck straight up rushed out onto the stage, leaping into the air with his Poké Ball in hand.

"Meganium, let's go!" The Poké Ball spun through the air and opened up, releasing a large green dinosaur-like Pokémon with a ring of pink and white petals around its neck. A ring of beautiful pink flowers also spun around Meganium's body and faded as it landed on the ground.

"Wow! That Pokémon looks so familiar!" Lyra muttered, tapping her chin to try and remember if she had seen it somewhere before.

"Well, it should! Meganium's the final evolved form of Chikorita," Brock explained, and the brunette gasped and quickly snatched out her Pokédex to scan the creature. **"Meganium, the Herb Pokémon. Meganium's breath has the power to revive dead grass and plants, and the fragrance emanating from its flower petals could soothe any angry, hostile emotions."**

"Okay Meganium, start out with Sweet Scent!" the Pokémon's Trainer ordered.

"Mega!" the Pokémon cried, and shook its neck, releasing a pink powder from the petals on its neck all around.

"And now, Aromatherapy!" As soon as the pink powder stopped coming out, a multicolored gas with bright sparkles inside poured out from the flower around the Herb Pokémon's neck, combining with the Sweet Scent attack as it wafted over the battlefield.

**"Oh my! Do you smell that? Meganium's Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy combination should be used in a spa, because I feel instantly relaxed!"** The audience was silent as everyone seemed to close their eyes as the pains and pressures of the world seemed to melt away from the smell. Even the judges were sitting back in their chairs and relaxing.

"Okay Meganium, wrap things up with Synthesis!" the Coordinator commanded. In the middle of the stage, Meganium looked up in the air and the flower petals on its neck started to glow a bright white. The glow then spread throughout its whole body, and the powder all around the field shone brightly, the light shining on the rainbow-colored mist and bringing out all the colors in it. Finally, the mist slowly faded away, and Meganium stopped glowing and bowed to the audience. The crowd cheered at the performance and clapped their hands loudly. Lyra even decided to clap herself, smiling as an image of her standing next to a Meganium in the middle of a battle stadium flashed through her head.

"Quite a performance. The Sweet Scent and Aromatherapy was enough for an appeal, but then you added Synthesis to intensify the colors," Mr. Contesta commented.

"Remarkable as well!"

"The amazing feeling your Meganium's attacks let out really shows how well you raised it and how happy it is. Great job." The crowd clapped at the judges' comments and the Coordinator and Meganium walked off the stage.

**"And now, folks, here's our last Entrant for the Performance Round. Come on out!"** From behind the curtain, a tall, bulky man stepped out with his Poké Ball in hand. The suit he wore looked like a captain of a boat's uniform, and he had a stern look on his face.

"Flaaffy, I choose you!" he yelled, tossing the ball forward. The ball opened up, and instead of a flash of light, a bright pink puff of smoke came out of the inside of the ball. The smog around it faded and a bright pink and white sheep-like Pokémon appeared in the middle of the stage. It crossed its arms confidently across its chest as the rest of the smoke evaporated. "Now Flaaffy, Swift, let's go!" The pink Pokémon let out a baa before looking into the air. Just then, multiple gold stars shot out from the while wool around Flaaffy's head and neck and started spinning in the air. As the stars traveled around, they left behind gold particles. It was almost like the move was made for Contests. "Okay, and now use Thunder!" The Pokémon nodded and fired a powerful blast of yellow electricity from its body into the circle of stars above. The stars were zapped and the electricity charged through them, but didn't fade away, instead forming around the stars like a bright yellow aura.

**"Boy, look at the golden color of the Swift attack now!" **Marian gasped in awe, as did the audience around her.

"And now finally, finish with Signal Beam!" the Coordinator commanded, and this time, Flaaffy leaped up into the air so that it was in the middle of the circle of stars. Two white orbs of light then formed at the end of each of its hands, and it extended them and spun around in the opposite direction of the Swift attack. It then fired a rainbow-colored beam from the white orbs straight at the Swift attack. The attack hit the stars, and as soon as it did, the stars and electricity absorbed the Signal Beam attack, and the once-golden stars turned rainbow colored.

**"It seems the Signal Beam has turned the Swift attack into a rainbow color! The electricity around the Swift seemed to have absorbed it in, and Flaaffy used this to its advantage!" **Flaaffy and the stars spun around in mid-air for a second or two, and suddenly, the stars popped like fireworks, one by one. The Wool Pokémon landed on the stage and raised its hands as rainbow-colored particles rained down over and around it. The audience started to cheer, but the Coordinator smirked, showing he wasn't finished yet.

"One more! Use Charge!"

"Flaaaa!" the Pokémon cried, clenching its hands together and pulling its body together. Just then, yellow electricity appeared around it, and the sparkles that fell in the Wool Pokémon's fur and wool started to sparkle like a disco ball. Finally, the electricity broke away and Flaaffy shook its body, getting the particles off it. And once again, the audience started to cheer as loud as they could. Lyra and Khoury were smiling and clapping along with them.

**"Wow, even though it seemed like they were done, Flaaffy still had one more trick up its sleeve, and it was a perfect ending to an amazing performance!"** Marian complimented, clapping her hands as well.

"It was quite an array of attacks and they were all beautifully executed," Mr. Contesta judged, clapping his hands.

"Definitely remarkable!" the middle judge agreed.

"To use all of Flaaffy's moves like that was really impressive, since they all flowed so nicely. Great job," Nurse Joy commented, and the Coordinator recalled his Flaaffy and moved off the stage. As he did, Marian walked to the middle of the stage and looked up at the crowd.

**"Ladies and gentlemen, that brings us to the end of an exciting Round one!"** she announced. **"So please be patient while our judges' results are calculated!"**

"Wow, that was so good! So which ones were your favorite, Khoury?" Lyra asked her friend.

"There were so many great ones. I can't decide," he admitted, and chuckled to himself. On the other side of her, Ash stood up.

"We should go into the backrooms and tell Dawn how great of a job she did up there!" he suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Lyra agreed, and everyone stood up and made their way back to the back room where the Coordinators were.

o 0 o

After making their way through the crowd, the group arrived at the door leading into the room, and they walked inside. Dawn and Piplup was sitting on the benches they had, patiently waiting the results. When she saw them, Dawn smiled and stood up. Lyra jumped forward and bent down to look at her friend's Pokémon. "You were awesome, Piplup!" she complimented, and the Penguin Pokémon put its wings on its hips and stuck out its chest proudly.

"Lup!" it agreed, and Lyra chuckled and stood up straight again, looking at her friend.

"Wow Dane, Contests are really fun to watch, y'know?"

"Glad you like it, Lyra!" Dawn replied.

"But still," she added, putting her hands together and placing them over her heart. "Waiting for the results can sure be a nerve-wracking time."

"No need to worry," Ash responded, placing his hands on his hips nonchalantly. "Piplup really did great out there!" Just then, the large television monitor in the front of the room came off the waiting screen and Marian's face appeared on it, catching all the Coordinators' attention.

**"And now ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for your patience!" **she stated. **"After careful consideration by our panel of judges, the eight Coordinators who will be moving along to Round two are... On the big screen now!"** Just then, eight playing cards appeared on the screen, four in two rows, and starting from left to right, the cards flipped around, showing the Coordinator's pictures on the other side of the cards. The Trainer with the Sentret was the first one, then the girl with the Jumpluff, Dawn, the man with the Meganium, the man with the Flaaffy, Jessilina, the man with the Granbull, and the man with the Hitmontop. Dawn let out a big sigh and closed her eyes in relief, placing her hands on her chest.

"Thank goodness," she sighed as a smile grew across her face.

"You're in, Dawn!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

"Piplup knew it all along," Brock joked, chuckling to himself.

"Congratulations," Khoury cheered, and Piplup stuck its chest out and patted it with one of its wings confidently.

"Dane!" Lyra exclaimed, and reached forward, snatching the girl's hands in hers and shaking them excitedly. "You were simply amazing!" Dawn giggled to herself, but she looked confidently in Lyra's eyes.

"But, the real Contest starts now," the blue-haired girl replied, pulling out a Poké Ball from her dress pocket and looking at it. "I'm counting on _you_, Mamoswine."

"So it's Mamoswine's stage debut," Brock commented.

"Can't wait to see it!" Ash added, and Pikachu nodded its head in agreement. Lyra's eyebrows raised and she looked at Dawn.

"I just realized it's your chance to win your fifth and final Ribbon, so it's a really important Contest for you, right Dane?" the brunette asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

"Then why didn't you choose Piplup and Buneary?" Lyra asked, then placed her hands on her hips. "You're quite the daredevil, aren't you?"

"No need to worry! I'm fine!" she replied with her famous catchphrase, smiling confidently at her friend. "No reason I should do anything differently at this point." She grinned and giggled at Lyra. "As far as I'm concerned, it's battling as usual."

* * *

Overconfidence is never a good thing, Dawn. v-v Well, that was the first Contest _anything _I've ever written. The appeal rounds were kinda hard to think of some for certain Pokémon, but I think I managed. ^-^ It was definitely a fun experience, and so much different than writing battles, that's for sure! XD Personally, my favorite was the Tyranitar one, but he didn't make it to the second round. :(

As a side note, if you're wondering why Marian's speech is in bold, it's because she's speaking into a microphone, so her voice is projected. ^-^

Well, anyways, next chapter, Dawn moves on to Round two. Will she win her fifth and final Ribbon to be able to compete in the Grand Festival, or will she get beat and have to go somewhere else to get her Ribbon? You'll have to wait for next chapter! Alright guys, that's it for this update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you so much for reading and reviewing! See you next update!


	38. Dressed for Jess Success!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP146: Dressed for Jess Success! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 35**

**"And now it's time for the Battle Stage!"** Marian stated as the four got back to their seats. Piplup also decided to come with them to watch its Trainer battle. After a random selection, Dawn and the Coordinator with the Granbull were the first ones to battle. The two were on both sides of the stage now, looking at each other with intensity. **"With just five minutes on the clock, Coordinators must land their attacks as stylishly as possible, while lowering their opponent's points in the process! So enjoy the dazzling display of moves!"**

"So Round two is a battle round!" Khoury understood.

"But unlike a Gym Battle, Coordinators and Pokémon are judged on the style of their moves," Brock elaborated. "And the way they're able to dodge their opponent's attacks."

**"Let's meet the Coordinators for our first match!"** Marian suggested. **"To my left, it's Dawn. To my right: Mario!" **Both Coordinators' photos appeared on the large screen above, and underneath their picture was a round circle with a Poké Ball in the middle. Around the Poké Ball was a yellow circle, and in between the two circles was a digital clock that read five minutes. **"And, begin!"** As soon as she said this, the clock started counting down.

"Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn cried, pulling out her Poké Ball and tossing it onto the stage. The ball opened up, and, instead of the usual white light, a large puff of pink smoke came out from the Poké Ball, and Mamoswine came charging out of the smoke and stopped in front of Dawn as the smoke evaporated from its fur.

"Now, Granbull go!" Mario called, tossing his own Poké Ball forward. The Poké Ball burst open and, this time, an explosion of fire came out from the inside of it, and Granbull charged out from the flames, standing in front of Mamoswine with one leg forward, ready to battle. Both Coordinators smirked at each other before they began to battle. "Granbull, use Fire Fang now!" The Fairy Pokémon jumped into action right away, charging at Mamoswine with its mouth open. Red-yellow fire then poured out from the corner of its mouth and it snapped its jaws, causing the flames to travel down its bottom jaw and around its fangs.

**"And Granbull unleashes a powerfully-flaming Fire Fang!"** Marian announced as some of Dawn's points, the yellow circle underneath Dawn's picture, went down. When she saw this, Lyra gasped in surprise.

"Wait, how come Dane's points just went down?" she questioned.

"In a Pokémon Contest battle, the successful use of a flashy move can lower your opponent's points," Brock explained to her.

"I see; that's amazing!" Khoury replied. "Only in Contest battles."

"Quick, dodge it and use Ice Shard!" Dawn commanded her Pokémon. As Granbull reached Mamoswine, it opened its jaws and jumped forward to snap them around the Twin Tusk Pokémon, Mamoswine jumped backwards, and Granbull snapped its jaws in the air. As it did, the fire around its mouth flickered away as well.

**"And Fire Fang misses!**" Marian said as it was Mario's turn to lose points. When Mamoswine landed on the ground again, it opened its mouth and formed a bright blue, glowing ball of ice in front of its mouth. **"After a quick dodge, Mamoswine unleashes Ice Shard!"** Granbull skipped back to its side of the battlefield, and both Coordinator and Pokémon readied themselves for Mamoswine's attack.

"Let 'er rip!" Dawn instructed, and Mamoswine lurched forward, closing its mouth around the Ice Shard it formed. Everyone in the audience, as well as Mario and the three judges, gasped at the action it took.

**"Mamoswine has just eaten its own Ice Shard!"** the MC exclaimed in surprise as well.

"Go for it, Mamoswine!" Ash cheered, and Pikachu and Piplup cheered loudly for them. Like before, the thick fur on Mamoswine's back stood up straight in rows of spikes and thick, sparkling ice covered over the strands that stuck out.

**"Unbelievable! Mamoswine's fur has just frozen over and its body is covered in icicles! It's as if Mamoswine were wearing ice armor!"** Marian stated as Mario's points went down from the unique attack.

"That did it! Look how their opponent's points went down!" Lyra stated, and behind her, the audience started to cry out loudly in excitement from the new attack. Mamoswine's beady eyes looked around at the audience cheering for it and let out a breath of confidence before crying out proudly.

"We're on a roll, Mamoswine!" Dawn complimented, then reached her arm forward. "Now, Hidden Power!" Obeying its Trainer, both of Mamoswine's tusks started to glow yellow, and its body became surrounded in a yellow outline as well. Multiple blue-green orbs of energy then formed and orbited around the large Pokémon. The bright light from the Hidden Power attack reflected off the ice on its back, making it reflect and sparkle beautifully.

**"And Hidden Power makes Mamoswine's Ice Armor sparkle brilliantly!"**

"It's beautiful!" Lyra commented, grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, and by combining those moves, Dawn's making Mamoswine look even more fearsome," Brock added.

"Take Down!" Dawn commanded, pointed at Granbull across the stage. With the Hidden Power still spinning around it, Mamoswine took a running start and ran forward, its sights set on Granbull.

"Uh oh! Dodge it!" Mario exclaimed to his Pokémon, but before his Granbull could react, Mamoswine slammed its body into the Fairy Pokémon. It spun in the air before landing on the ground and bouncing off. When it landed on its back, Granbull was unable to battle. "Granbull!" At the judge's table, all three pressed a buzzer in front of them, and a red X appeared on the screens on the front of their booths, making a loud noise.

**"That's it! And the team of Dawn and Mamoswine moves onto the semi-finals!"** Marian judged.

"Mamo!" Mamoswine grunted proudly. However, Dawn stared out at the battlefield with wide eyes, and she blinked a couple times as she muttered to herself.

**"Using a triple-combination move of Ice Shard, Hidden Power, and Take Down, Mamoswine masterfully takes the match!"** As Dawn recalled her Mamoswine and walked off the stage, Lyra noticed the disappointed look on the Coordinator's face, and she raised one of her eyebrows.

"What's wrong with Dane? Why does she look disappointed?" Lyra asked Ash and Brock. The two looked at her, but her back was already to them as she walked off.

"I dunno. Let's go find out! I want to congratulate her anyways," Ash suggested, and the group stood up and walked out of the main arena as Jessilina and the red-headed girl with the Jumpluff stepped out onto the arena.

o 0 o

"Man, that was a letdown," Dawn sighed as she fell back onto the comforted benches in the Coordinators' room. They had caught up with her in the hallway and they walked together into the room. Both Lyra and Khoury gasped and raised their eyebrows.

"Let down?" the brunette repeated. "But Dane, in case you didn't notice, Mamoswine won!"

"Mamoswine was into it, but that was only in the beginning of the battle," Brock answered for the blue-haired girl. "And since it actually won with Take Down alone, I bet Dawn wishes she could have done more." Dawn pulled her head up and looked at her friend.

"Brock's right; it's true," she responded. "There were a lot more things I wanted to try."

"But a win is a win, right?"

"Yeah, but I think Dawn wishes she had won the battle in a _different _kind of way," Ash elaborated. Beside her, Khoury crossed his arms and frowned, letting out a small groan of confusion.

"Hmm, Contest Battles are more complicated than I thought," he muttered, and suddenly, Dawn jumped up and raised her fists excitedly as if she just got a brilliant idea.

"Yes! So I'll just make the semi-final battle flashier!" she cried.

"Piplup!" the Pokémon beside her cheered on, nodding its head in agreement. Lyra looked up on the monitor to see how the current battle was doing. Jessilina's Carnivine was battling against her opponent's Corsola, and the two seemed to be fighting it out. Carnivine was trying to snap its jaw around Corsola, but the pink and white Pokémon was leaping around nervously to avoid the attacks.

"Let's go back to our seats and watch the rest of the Contest," Lyra suggested to everyone. "That way, Dane can think of new ways to improve with her Mamoswine by herself."

"Thanks, Lyra," the Coordinator said, smiling at her. The other nodded and made their way back to their seats with Piplup and Cyndaquil following behind.

o 0 o

When the group returned to their seats, Carnivine had Corsola wrapped up in its light green and red roots and was using Bind to squeeze Corsola. It was also squeezing the points out of the Coordinator as well, and with each second that went by, the girl's points continued to go down. "Corsola, BubbleBeam!" the Coordinator cried, and a light blue ball formed in front of Corsola's mouth, and it fired a barrage of light blue bubbles, but Carnivine quickly moved its head while still latched onto Corsola so it wouldn't get hit with the attack. Dodging the attack also lowered the female Coordinator's points as well.

**"And Carnivine dodges that BubbleBeam attack with incredible ease! Will Corsola be able to get out of this tight squeeze?"** Marina questioned, and suddenly, a loud ping sounded as the time dropped to zero. **"And time is up! The winner of the match is... Jessilina and her Carnivine!"**

"We did it, Carnivine!" Jessilina exclaimed. Right away, the Bug Catcher Pokémon leaped off Corsola and jumped onto Jessilina, wrapping its arms around her and biting onto her head in happiness. Meanwhile, Jessilina's opponent took in a deep breath of disappointment, but recalled her Corsola into its Poké Ball and walked off the stage.

**"Great battle! Now let's bring out the next set of Coordinators!"** The two Coordinators stepped out from backstage and walked onto the battlefield. The Coordinator with the hat who had the Sentret last round took the spot to the left, and the mean-looking Coordinator with the Flaaffy walked to the right. Both of their pictures appeared on the scoreboard. **"The Coordinators here will be competing to go to the Semi-finals. To my left, meet Clayton. And to my right, meet Daryl." **Both Coordinators faced each other and prepared their Poké Balls. **"Coordinators, send out your Pokémon... and begin!"**

"Shuckle, let's go!" the Coordinator with the hat, Daryl, shouted, tossing his Poké Ball forward onto the battlefield. The Poké Ball opened, and in a burst of light that also produced a large amount of red confetti, a yellow worm-like Pokémon with a red shell around it came out of the ball.

"Flaaffy, I choose you!" Clayton called, and in a puff of pink smoke, the man's Flaaffy from the first round appeared in the middle of the stage. The Coordinator wasted no time in calling orders, as well. "Flaaffy, Thunderbolt!"

"Flaa!" the Wool Pokémon cried, and jumped into the air as its body became surrounded in yellow electricity. It then fired a beam of yellow electricity from its body at Shuckle.

"Block it with Protect, Shuckle!" Daryl retorted. Two snake-like arms came out of holes on the front of Shuckle's shell and it raised them. Just then, a green energy barrier appeared around Shuckle's body just as the Thunderbolt reached it, and the electrical attack fizzed out, doing no damage to Shuckle at all.

**"That was quick thinking on Daryl's part. We saw how much control Flaaffy has over its Thunderbolt attack. Because the attack didn't work, Clayton loses some points as well."**

"Okay Shuckle, fire back with Stone Edge!" Daryl commanded, pointing at Flaaffy. Raising both of its arms, two rings of light blue energy appeared around. The energy started to glow white and it separated into two rings of glowing white rocks that orbited around Shuckle in an X-like orbit. Pointing its head forward, the Mold Pokémon let out a cry, and the glow around the stones faded, and fired at Flaaffy, one after the other.

"Destroy them with Signal Beam!" Putting its hands together in front of it, a white orb appeared in between its two arms, and it fired a rainbow-colored beam from the white orb. The two attacks collided and fought for dominance before Signal Beam broke through and obliterated the Stone Edge attack before going through and hitting Shuckle. The Pokémon bounced back, but quickly recovered.

**"Ouch. Though Bug-type moves aren't very powerful when put up against Rock-type moves like Stone Edge, Flaaffy's higher level helped them pull through this!"** Marian explained, watching as Flaaffy immediately took action, taking a running start as it charged.

"Swift attack, go!" Clayton shouted. Skidding to a stop, Flaaffy lowered its head and fired multiple golden stars out of its mouth straight at Shuckle.

"Safeguard!" Daryl gasped as the Pokémon released the golden stars. However, just in the nick of time, a green energy shield appeared around Shuckle's body, and as the stars hit it, they bounced off and disappeared in a golden dust. Because the move failed, Clayton's points went down a bit. The man grumbled as he looked at the scoreboard, then looked back at the battlefield. However, he smiled, looking at Daryl's points, who had lost a quarter of his.

"Flaaffy, jump back and try Swift once more!" he instructed. The Pokémon nodded, leaping backwards and spitting out more golden stars again. "Now, use Thunderbolt and Signal Beam!" As the stars zoomed at Daryl's Shuckle, the Wool Pokémon released a bolt of yellow lightning from its body, zapping the stars and giving them a beautiful golden aura like before. When Flaaffy stopped with the Electric-type attack, it reached its arm forward and fired a rainbow-colored beam quickly, hitting the stars with it and giving them a beautiful shine.

**"Oh my! It's the attack that brought them up to the second round! Clayton's showing us that it isn't just for show as well! The beautiful attack cost Daryl a handful of points, too." **The capped Coordinator bit his lip, but grinned as the attack soared through the air at Shuckle.

"Too bad it won't hit us, right Shuckle? Protect, let's go!"

"Shuckle, uckle!" the Pokémon uttered, and raised both of its arms, a green force field appearing around its body. The stars hit it and crashed into the shield, but did no damage at all, and the shield fell, leaving Shuckle unhurt.

"Boy, that guy with the Shuckle isn't doing so well," Lyra muttered to herself.

"That's because Clayton and his Flaaffy have flashy moves," Brock explained. "Daryl's Shuckle is using a defensive strategy by making the opponent's attacks fail. But Clayton's Flaaffy has many tricks up its sleeve, so the flashiness of the moves is costing Daryl his points.

"Flaaffy, Charge!" Clayton commanded. The pink Pokémon in front of him nodded and crouched its body together, yellow sparks of electricity appearing around it as it gathered its electricity.

"Stop it with Stone Edge, Shuckle! Don't let it gather electricity!" Daryl shouted. Once again, two rings of energy appeared around Shuckle's body, and from the rings, it fired multiple stones like bullets from around it at Flaaffy. Flaaffy braced itself as the Stone Edge barrage hit it, and was pushed back slightly as it continued to gather energy.

**"That Stone Edge attack is doing its toll on Flaaffy, but it continues to gather electricity!"** Marian announced, looking up at the scoreboard as Clayton's points started to slowly go down.

"Okay Flaaffy, Thunderbolt!" Clayton yelled.

"Flaaa... fffffyyyy!" the Wool Pokémon shouted, letting out a fierce cry as it released all of its charged electricity. The electricity fired at Shuckle like a huge rocket ship, but Daryl smirked.

"Shuckle, Protect!" he ordered. The Mold Pokémon raised its arms to bring up the energy shield, but nothing happened, and the Bug-type Pokémon looked around in surprise.

**"Rapid succession of Protect has caused it to fail! And such horrible timing!"**

"Okay then, Plan B! Endure!" Daryl retorted, and Shuckle lowered its head, bracing itself for the impact of the electricity. In a flash of bright light that seemed to fill up the room, the huge Thunderbolt hit its mark. Finally, the light faded, and everyone looked to the battlefield, squinting to see the results. As the smoke cleared, Flaaffy was standing on Clayton's side of the battlefield, breathing heavily from launching the powerful attack. On the other side, Shuckle was inside its shell and lying still on the other side of the battlefield. Smoke rose from its shell from where the electricity sizzled, and sparks still danced across the top of it. The audience was silent as they waited for the results of the attack. Suddenly, the shell began to rock back and forth, and Shuckle's head and limbs stuck out from the holes. It was crisp, but it was still able to move.

**"What amazing defense! Because Shuckle was able to use Endure at the last moment, it managed to survive the powered-up Thunderbolt!" **Marian declared. Suddenly, the buzzer went off as the time on the scoreboard reached zero. **"And at a dramatic finish, time is up! The winner of the match is... Clayton and Flaaffy!"** The audience began to cheer as Clayton kneeled down. His Flaaffy rushed up and hugged him, and he petted the top of its head happily. Daryl sighed in disappointment, but walked out onto the stage and picked up his Shuckle. Both opponents shook hands and walked off back stage. **"Let's begin the last match of the quarter-finals! Coordinators, come out!" **The audience cheered as the two Coordinators up stepped out onto the stage, and Lyra gasped, intertwining her fingers as the blond Coordinator with the Hitmontop from last round stepped out.

"Oh! It's my Prince Charming!" she squealed.

"But look who he's facing," Khoury muttered, pointing to the other Coordinator that stepped out. It was the young man from earlier who brought out the Meganium.

**"Let's meet the last bunch of Coordinators!" **Marian suggested, stepping in the middle of the battlefield. **"To my left, it's Neil! And to my right is Julio. With five minutes on the clock, let the match begin!"**

"Tyrogue, it's you!" Julio, the blond Coordinator, called, tossing his Poké Ball up gracefully. The Poké Ball opened up, releasing a bright light that poured down onto the stage. In a flash, a small pink Pokémon that looked humanoid appeared, and around it, multiple yellow quarter notes came out of the ball, and Tyrogue jabbed at them and batted them away.

"Meganium, you're up!" Neil shouted, tossing his Poké Ball forward as well. In a flash, accompanied by a large amount of bright pink flower petals, the large dinosaur-like Pokémon appeared on the other side of the stage, facing Tyrogue.

"Oh god! I don't know who to root for!" Lyra complained, flailing her arms and legs.

"Lyra, shh!" Khoury whispered, trying to calm her down as the people around them started to stare at the brunette. "People are staring!"

"Tyrogue, begin with Fake Out," Julio started, running his fingers through his hair. Without even hesitating, Tyrogue charged forward, front flipping into the air and jumping in front of Meganium. Before either Pokémon or Trainer could react, Tyrogue clapped its hands together in front of it, releasing a shock wave from its hands at the Herb Pokémon. The shock wave blew back Meganium and it skidded across the stage, managing to stop before it skidded into its Trainer.

**"And Tyrogue begins with a speedy Fake Out attack, throwing Meganium off-guard!"**

"Hi Jump Kick," Julio followed up, smiling confidently as Tyrogue jumped forward, bending its knee as it soared through the air.

"Use Sweet Scent to calm it down, Meganium!" Neil retorted.

"Ganium!" the Grass-type replied, and raised its head, releasing a thick pink mist from the flower petals around its neck all around the stage. Tyrogue seemed to disappear inside the mist, and Neil smirked, knowing his counter-strategy worked. Suddenly, Meganium gasped and the Scuffle Pokémon leaped through the mist, striking the Grass-type with its knee before kicking off it and landing on the ground. Meanwhile, Meganium fell to the ground from the strike of the attack.

**"Using Sweet Scent, Meganium dropped its guard, thinking Tyrogue got caught up in that marvelous scent, but Tyrogue came back with a vengeance!"** the MC announced.

"Like my Pokémon is going to be affected by a measly distraction," the blond Coordinator told his two opponents as Tyrogue landed on the ground, kneeling down as the powder's fragrance threw it off guard.

"C'mon Meganium, get up! I know you can!" Neil urged, and the Pokémon did so with a loud groan. Shaking its head from being knocked down, it finally faced forward and locked its eyes on Tyrogue. "Energy Ball!" As he issued his command, Meganium opened its mouth and the petals around its neck started to glow bright green. A bright green orb of energy then formed in front of Meganium's mouth and it fired the Energy Ball at Tyrogue. The Pokémon was still trying to focus on getting rid of the Sweet Scent's effect, and didn't even notice the Energy Ball until the last moment, and it exploded as it made contact, knocking back the Scuffle Pokémon.

**"And a nice comeback from Meganium! These two are neck-and-neck when it comes to points, as well."**

"For now. Rock Smash, Tyrogue, go!"

"Tyrogue!" the pink Pokémon cried, jumping forward and pulling back one of its fists and clenching it tightly. It then started to glow white and it jabbed its fist forward as it approached Meganium. The power-punch knocked Meganium off its feet, and it went sprawling to the ground.

"Fire another Energy Ball!" Neil ordered, his voice starting to quiver with worry. Lifting up its head, the Herb Pokémon opened its mouth as the petals around its neck started to glow green with energy and it fired an energy orb from its mouth. The ball zoomed by, and Tyrogue jumped over it with little effort. In doing so, this gave Meganium the chance to stand back up without the Scuffle Pokémon attacking it in the process. "Once more! Energy Ball!"

"Is that all you can do? Tyrogue, Low Kick!" Julio countered. As Meganium fired another ball of energy from its mouth, Tyrogue jumped high into the air, jumping over the ball, and extended its foot as it landed. Meganium gasped when it saw Tyrogue's leg diving at its feet, but didn't have any time to react as the Fighting-type Pokémon landed and swung its legs underneath the large Pokémon's two front legs. The Herb Pokémon tripped as it lost its balance and fell forward with a big crash. Tyrogue jumped back to its side of the battlefield and crossed its arms across its chest, watching Meganium closely. However, the Pokémon had fainted from the barrage of attacks, and Neil cried out when he saw Meganium was knocked out. The judges each pressed a button on their tables, letting a buzzer sound to know that the battle was finished.

**"And after a fascinating barrage of attacks, Meganium has been knocked out, and Julio advances to the Semi-Finals!"** Marian concluded, and the crowd clapped at Julio's and Tyrogue's victory. Recalling his Pokémon, Julio smiled at the audience, gave a bow, and walked back to the Coordinator's room. Neil also recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball and walked back, his head slumped in disappointment.

"Poor guy. I hope he's okay..." Khoury muttered as he watched him slink off through the curtain.

"At least Prince Charming won!" Lyra replied, smiling from ear to ear as Marian stepped out onto center stage.

**"Folks, its been one stylish Contest Battle after another, and your applause shows me how much you love it!" **Marian stated. **"Now, let's bring out the Coordinators for the Semi-Finals!"** From behind the curtain, walking side-by-side, was Dawn and Jessilina. Jessilina seemed to have lost all of her previous nerves and had a smile on her face as she stepped out. Dawn was also smiling confidently as she walked out. The two split apart when they got to the stage, and Jessilina took the left side of it while Dawn took the other. **"The first Semi-Final match will be between: Dawn on my left, and Jessilina on my right! And with Dawn having won four Ribbons, and Jessilina having won two, who will win the Contest Battle and move onto the final round?" **Marian paused as the audience cheered and clapped, ready for the battle to begin. **"We've got five minutes on the clock! ****Begin!"**

"Mamoswine, spotlight!" Dawn called, spinning around elegantly and tossing her Poké Ball forward. In a poof of pink smoke, Mamoswine charged onto the battlefield. After seeing her opponent, Jessilina took out her Poké Ball and kissed it before throwing it.

"Carnivine! Show time!" she cried. The Poké Ball opened up, and along with the white light, a large amount of pink hearts accompanied the light, raining onto the stage. As soon as Carnivine appeared, however, the green Pokémon turned around and jumped at its Trainer, biting onto her head and hugging her tightly. "Not chow time! _Showtime!"_ she exclaimed as she struggled to get out of Carnivine's grip.

**"And once again, Jessilina puts everything into her performance,"** Marian commented, watching Jessilina struggle with an amused smile on her face. Finally, Jessilina managed to pop out of the Bug Catcher Pokémon's mouth and it jumped forward.

"Didn't that Team Rocket member's Carnivine do the same thing?" Lyra asked Khoury, raising one of her eyebrows as she turned towards him.

"Carnivine have a tendency to bite things, so I guess it makes sense for all Carnivine to do that," Khoury replied, shrugging his shoulders. Lyra looked at Jessilina and studied her for a moment, but then shrugged and watched the battle as Dawn gave her first command.

"Mamoswine, Ice Shard!" she began, and the Twin Tusk Pokémon opened its mouth wide, forming a bright blue ball of ice in between its tusks.

**"And Mamoswine uses Ice Shard! We'll see if it uses that power-up again!"**

"Use Vine Whip!" Jessilina shrilled, and two light green vines extended out from under its head, zooming towards Mamoswine. Just as Mamoswine was about to bite down on the Ice Shard, Carnivine's Vine Whip attack wrapped around the Ice Shard and pulled it back. Mamoswine bit down in the air, and its teeth crunched together, and both it and Dawn gasped as Carnivine snatched up the Ice Shard.

**"Mamoswine's power-up fails!"** the MC declared as Dawn's points went down.

"No way!" Lyra mumbled as everyone around her gasped. Placing the Ice Shard in its hand, Carnivine stood there on stage, tossing it up in down in its leaf-like hand as the Vine Whips swung around in the air.

**"And Carnivine's quick thinking Vine Whip has stolen Mamoswine's Ice Shard!" **Taunting Mamoswine, Carnivine held the Ice Shard attack in the Vine Whips and waved it around, giggling mischievously at the Twin Tusk Pokémon. Mamoswine glared at Carnivine's taunts and stomped its foot in anger.

"Return that Ice Shard to sender!" Jessilina shouted with a grin plastered on her face. Jumping into the air and pulling its head back, Carnivine threw the Ice Shard in its vines right back at Mamoswine, and it soared straight at the brown Pokémon.

"Mamoswine, dodge it!" Dawn ordered, but Mamoswine was stomping on the ground in anger and wasn't prepared. At the last moment, it looked up and the Ice Shard collided with its head. The Ice attack shattered when it hit and Mamoswine stepped back a couple steps, grunting in pain.

**"And Mamoswine gets pummeled by its own Ice Shard!" **Being hit by its own attack didn't seem to thrill Mamoswine, and it stomped on the ground again, and dragged its foot across the stage, its angry gaze fixated on Carnivine. **"Woah! It appears Mamoswine is getting all fired up!"**

"Please Mamoswine, calm down!" Dawn told it, but the Pokémon ignored her and charged forward, running right towards Carnivine. "Wait Mamoswine!" Just then, Mamoswine's body started to glow bright orange as it charged, and the four Trainers in the audience gasped.

"Mamoswine's making a move without Dawn's command is bad news..." Lyra heard Brock mutter to himself.

"Mamoswine, chill out!" Ash yelled to it.

"Pika pika!" his Pokémon added. Despite the giant Pokémon charging towards them, Jessilina and Carnivine didn't seem to be worried at all.

"Jump and dodge it," Jessilina ordered. Carnivine nodded, and as Mamoswine approached it, it leaped high into the air and effortlessly jumped over the large brown Pokémon. Mamoswine wasn't done, however, and when it saw it missed, it whipped around and tried to attack Carnivine again. The same thing happened and Carnivine jumped over Mamoswine once again. The scene repeated itself for a couple more times as well.

**"Carnivine elegantly dodges over and over, while Mamoswine is getting more and more upset!"** Marian announced, her eyes following Mamoswine's movements. Behind her, the scoreboard showed that with each dodge Carnivine made, Dawn was losing more points.

"Mamoswine! Watch your opponent's moves, please!" Dawn begged, looking helpless as she overlooked the battle with a horror-stricken face. Meanwhile, on the other side, Jessilina had one of her hands on her hips and was waving her hips from side to side. She had the other hand pointed up in the air and waving it around in circles.

"Carnivine now twirl and dance!~ Keep them in a tipsy trance!~ They don't stand a chance!" she sang. Giving one last hop, Carnivine flew through the air and spun like a ballerina in midair, then landed. Mamoswine skidded to a stop and glared at Carnivine, then began to glow bright orange again and charged at the Bug Catcher Pokémon.

"Mamoswine, you've gotta calm down!" Dawn screamed, but to no avail.

"It's like Mamoswine can't hear Dane talking!" Lyra commented.

"Even with my untrained eye, I can tell Mamoswine's moves aren't normal," Khoury added, and they watched as they began their dance; Mamoswine charging with Take Down while Carnivine jumped over it easily. "I'm afraid Carnivine's _totally_ in control." Out of breath, Mamoswine skidded to a stop in front of Dawn, the orange glow fading from around it as it breathed in and out heavily. Lyra let out a sigh of relief as Mamoswine looked like it was going to stop attacking, but gasped again when its body became outlined in a golden outline and both of its tusks began to glow as well. Raising its head, multiple light blue orbs of energy surrounded in a golden light then appeared around Mamoswine's body and circled around it.

"Don't attack unless I tell you to!" Dawn yelled, but Mamoswine reared up on its hind legs and crashed down, leaning forward and firing the orbs from around its body at Carnivine.

"Carnivine, Bullet Seed!" Jessilina screeched.

"Carrr... nivine!" the green Pokémon cried, leaping into the air and opening its wide mouth, firing a barrage of golden glowing seeds from its mouth. The Hidden Power and Bullet Seed attacks collided in the middle of the stage, and Carnivine managed to pop all the orbs with its own attack. When the smoke from the two attacks cleared and Mamoswine saw its opponent was undamaged, it slammed its feet into the ground and reared up on its hind legs again. This time, its body started to glow silver, and the silver energy rose up and collected as a large silver ball in front of Mamoswine's tusks.

"Swine!" the Pokémon exclaimed, whipping its head around and tossing the AncientPower attack at Carnivine. The Grass-type stood still until the orb was near it, and then spun elegantly and moved to the left simultaneously, dodging the attack and lowing even more of Dawn's points. At this point, Dawn only had a quarter of her points left while Jessilina had only lost a bit of hers from Carnivine's failed Bullet Seed.

"Mamoswine, you've gotta listen to me!" the Coordinator demanded as her Pokémon quivered with anger. Deaf from madness, Mamoswine once again charged forward and started to glow as it went in for another Take Down attack. "Mamoswine, stop!"

"Carnivine, use Vine Whip to grab Mamoswine's tusks!" Jessilina instructed. Leaning forward, Carnivine grinned as it released two green vines from under its head. The two vines extended forward and wrapped around the ends of Mamoswine's tusks. When it grabbed it, Mamoswine stopped and looked down at the vines in surprise. "And now... pull back!" With surprising strength, Carnivine pulled back and its vines snapped back as well, pulling Mamoswine right off its feet for a few moments. The Twin Tusk Pokémon's eyes widened and it fell to the ground, skidding across it as Carnivine continued to retract its vines.

"C'mon Mamoswine! Get a grip!" Ash exclaimed. Next to him, Lyra turned her head away, making her hat shadow over her eyes.

"I... can't watch anymore!" she muttered. Finally, Carnivine let go and jumped out of the way, but not before giving a flick of its vines, causing Mamoswine to bounce off the stage and roll off to the side away from it. The three judges, who were overlooking the battle from their table, all gasped when they saw Mamoswine was skidding right towards them, and dashed away. With a collision that shook the whole stadium, Mamoswine slid into the judges' booth.

"Mamoswine..." Dawn mumbled, walking out on stage and slowly towards the middle where she stopped and looked at the destroyed table worriedly. When the dust that was kicked up cleared, Mamoswine was in the middle of the rubble, its body shaking in pain. It looked up and struggled to get up, but before it could, the high-pitched buzzer sounded, meaning time was up for the match.

**"Alright, time's up!** Marian called.** "And the team moving on to the Final round is... Jessilina and Carnivine!"** The crowd began to cheer wildly from the battle's conclusion, but Brock, Ash, Lyra and Khoury stayed quiet, looking at each other for answers on what to do next. In the middle of the stage, Dawn looked up at the scoreboard and her head fell sadly, but on the other side, Jessilina ran forward with her arms outstretched.

"Carnivine, we're in!" she exclaimed. Carnivine grinned widely and hopped towards its Trainer, giving her a great big hug and biting her head. "I love you too, but I still need to use my head!" The audience around them laughed and cheered louder for the two, but Lyra's, Khoury's, Ash's, and Brock's eyes were glued on Dawn as she turned around and walked up to her Mamoswine. The Pokémon was sitting in the middle of the rubble, looking down at the ground in pity.

"Cheer up, Mamoswine," she told it, and Lyra saw that instead of a sad look on her face, she was smiling at her Pokémon. "C'mon, there's always next time. And when that time comes, we'll be in better shape, right?" She giggled and grinned at it, but the Pokémon looked back down sadly, feeling guilty. She recalled her Pokémon and both her and Jessilina walked backstage.

"W-what should we do, guys? Should we go see if she's alright?" Lyra asked, looking at Brock and Ash for answers. "I know she seemed happy, but she must be devastated." The two companions looked at each other, and then Brock leaned forward to look at Lyra.

"I think we should give her a little time to herself before we check up on her," he replied. "Why don't we watch this last match and then see if she's okay."

"Okay..." Lyra mumbled in response, biting her lip and watching as the next two Coordinators walked out onto the stage. The two were Clayton and Julio, but not even Prince Charming could uncloak the thoughts from her head.

"You two are worried about Dawn too, aren't you?" Ash inquired, looking at Piplup and Cyndaquil. The two Pokémon turned and looked at him, but with their heads down sadly. "No need to worry; I'm sure she's fine."

o 0 o

Lyra didn't even watch or pay attention to the match. She couldn't. The whole time, she stared down at her lap, worrying about her friend. _Poor Dane... Her chance at getting her fifth Ribbon just slipped right out of her fingers, and not even by her own mistake. I'd be devastated right now if that happened to me,_ she thought. Suddenly, the loud buzzer interrupted her thoughts and she glanced up, seeing that Julio's Tyrogue had knocked out Clayton's Flaaffy, and he had won the Semi-final match, allowing him to move onto the Finals.

**"And Julio moves onto the Final match! We'll take a three minute intermission for Julio's Tyrogue to take a breather before Jessilina comes out and begins the Final match!" **Marian explained. As she walked off stage, Brock and Ash stood up, and Piplup and Cyndaquil leaped off the barrier they were standing on and made their way out of the arena area. Now wanting them to get lost, everyone else stood up and chased after them. They met up with the two Pokémon, and together, they rushed as fast as they could to the back room. Finally, they reached it, and both Lyra and Ash pushed open the two doors, crying out at the same time.

"Dane!"

"Dawn!" Piplup and Cyndaquil also walked forward. Dawn was standing by the bench, placing her white ski hat on her head. Her hair was back in its usual hairstyle, and she was back in her normal outfit, her Contest dress tucked neatly in her backpack. The room was fairly empty, as most of the Coordinators who had been knocked out had either left, or were crowded around the television in the front, watching as Jessilina and Julio walked back onto the arena. The girl raised her eyebrows when they came inside and turned around to look at them.

"Hi, guys," she greeted.

"Sorry about your match," Ash apologized, frowning apologetically.

"Lup..."

"Quil..." her Pokémon added. Dawn turned around fully and kneeled down to get closer to her Pokémon, a smile growing on her face.

"Hey, no need to worry," she replied, grinning at them.

"Maybe you _should have_ used Piplup and another Pokémon after all..." Lyra suggested lightly, and Dawn got back up and looked at the brunette.

"You might be right, but there are a lot of things you don't know until you're _actually_ up on stage," she explained, and turned to Ash. "One thing's for sure, Ash: I know what Mamoswine and I have to work on after today, y'know? Hope you're okay with being our practice buddy some more."

"Sure!" Ash agreed, raising one of his fists confidently. Behind him, Brock nodded approvingly. Lyra, however, gasped in surprise; her eyebrows raising up as well.

"Dane, you lost but you're so positive in spite of it!" she exclaimed. Instead of saying anything, Dawn giggled to herself, and Lyra couldn't help but smile along as well. On the flat screen television behind her, the buzzer sounded, and hearing the noise, everyone turned and looked at it. In the middle of the screen, Julio's Tyrogue was lying on the stage floor knocked unconscious.

**"Tyrogue has run out of points! So the final stage winner and Oreburgh Champion is... Jessilina!"** Marian's voice sounded through the speakers that were placed around the room.

"Jessilina?" Lyra repeated. "Wow, she really won!"

"Too bad your Prince Charming didn't win, huh?" Khoury teased, laughing at his joke. Lyra turned to him and glared, but quickly wiped it away and grinned, laughing along with him. Dawn, however, looked at them with a confused look on her face, as if she was missing something.

"Prince Charming? What?"

**"And now, Mr. Contesta will present Jessilina with the Oreburgh Ribbon!"** Marian announced, and the camera panned to the middle of the stadium, where Jessilina and Carnivine stood on a platform. The judge in the red jacket held a tray forward, and Jessilina reached forward and held the pink Ribbon that was lying in it in her fingers. Unable to contain her excitement, she raised the Ribbon high in the air.

"Behold! The Oreburgh Ribbon!"

o 0 o

"Here you go, Mamoswine," Dawn said, reaching her hands forward. In the middle of them were a large helping of Dawn's pink Poffin. Mamoswine happily put its head down and sucked up the Poffin, chewing on the treats thankfully. After the Contest cleared out, everyone decided to go back to the Pokémon Center and let Mamoswine spend some time with Nurse Joy. She reported that Mamoswine was doing just fine. Now, the group were out on the Pokémon Center's backyard area. The sun was setting above them, a beautiful end to the end of an amazing day. "Eat up, cause starting tomorrow, you and I are gonna practice even harder, okay?"

"Mamo!" the Pokémon replied, letting a breath of air out of its nose confidently. The breath of air almost blew away Piplup and Cyndaquil, who were below the Twin Tusk Pokémon.

"Wow, Mamoswine's really stoked!" Ash commented.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu, who was on his shoulder, added.

"We'll do whatever we can to help you win a fifth Ribbon," Brock assured the Coordinator.

"Thanks Brock. I'll do my best," she replied, and clenched her fist confidently, looking at Ash. "What do 'ya say?"

"Yeah!" the spiky-haired boy remarked, nodding his head.

"Nice. At times like this, isn't it great to be with friends?" Khoury, who was standing beside Lyra, asked. They were a little bit separate from the group, but still close enough to be with them. Responding to his question, the brunette nodded with her hands crossed across her chest.

"You're right, Khoury." She looked up and smiled, looking at the three Trainers in front of her. "Cause whether you win or lose, you always have your friends."

* * *

Well, how was the Contest? I tried to get in as much flashy moves as possible and be as descriptive as I could, but it's hard when there are so many things going on at once. XD 1). Battles 2). Marian doesn't shut the hell up 3). the points. Just know that with each flashy move, points go down, etc, etc. Also, we only have one or two more chapters left until the Johto Festival arc is over! I'm so excited! :D

This was kinda a long chapter, but that's okay. ^-^ Long chapters are good, right? XD Also, information on Pokémon Black and White 2 has been coming out a lot. What are your thoughts on it? As for myself, I'm just excited for information to come out. I'm not liking how they're replacing everyone, though. :/ Just when you start to love them.

Anyways, next chapter, Tohmas finally calls Lyra and Khoury, and tells them that he's getting ready to leave the Sinnoh region. Sad to be separated from their friends, they decide to have one last battle to commemorate the occasion. It doesn't sound like much, but this will be a big chapter! Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading and reviewing. You're all amazing people. See you next update, and thank you again for reading/reviewing!


	39. Bagged Then Tagged!

_For disclaimer purposes, this chapter is based off DP147: Bagged Then Tagged! Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 36**

Lyra woke up the next day wide awake. However, she laid in bed for a bit as the Starly outside chirped loudly in the morning sun. She could hear Khoury in the Pokémon Center's room's bathroom, getting ready for the day. _I've had so much fun these past couple of days. Traveling around, just like when I first began my Journey. Meeting Dane, and Ash, and Brock... we've all had a blast together. Heck, even Khoury's had a few chuckles between us. But the Pokémon Contest is over, so what's next for us?_ Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Lyra and Khoury! Hey, are you guys up yet?" Ash's voice sounded from the other side of the door. Kicking the sheets that hugged her legs off, she slipped off her bed and walked over to the door leading out into the hallway. She opened it, and saw Ash and Pikachu on the other side.

"Morning!" the brunette greeted.

"Good morning," Ash replied back, nodding his head. Unlike Lyra, he was already fully dressed in his day clothes. "We're heading down to the cafeteria for breakfast. You coming?"

"Sure thing! Once I finish getting dressed, that is," the girl responded, and the two laughed.

"Okay. See you two when you get there," Ash stated, turning around and waving at her. She smiled to herself and closed the door.

"Was that Ash?" Khoury asked as he walked out from the bathroom, his pajamas from last night neatly folded in his arms.

"Yup. They're at the cafeteria getting breakfast," she informed the boy, then walked over to the foot of her bed and picked up her backpack, getting everything out that she needed to get ready with. "Wait for me before you leave, okay?"

o 0 o

After she finished getting dressed, she collected her things. Instead of folding up her pajamas neatly like Khoury did, she simply balled hers up and put them in her bag. While she collected her items, Khoury told her that he got a message from his father telling them to meet him at the airport in Jubilife City that night to leave Sinnoh. Nodding, she shoved everything inside her backpack, and she snatched the yellow strap of her bag, swinging it over her shoulder. Khoury's large square-shaped backpack was dark blue, and had one strap that reached across his body and across his chest, and he lifted it up and fitting it around himself.

The two then made their way down to the cafeteria. Inside the large dining area, lots of Pokémon Coordinators and Trainers were here enjoying their breakfast. Lyra recognized a handful from the Pokémon Contest the day before, but didn't see Jessilina anywhere. "Oh, there they are," Khoury brought up, pointing to the far side of the area. Dawn and Ash were waving at the two to get their attention, and Lyra smiled as her and Khoury made their way over to them. The two sat down next to Brock as he moved over to make room for them. On the floor, Pikachu, Piplup and Cyndaquil sat, eating their bowls of Pokémon Chow. The two helped themselves to the scrambled eggs and toast that was leftover for them.

"So, any idea what we're going to do today?" Lyra asked after swallowing a mouthful of toast.

"We decided we're going to visit the Colosseum Ruins just on the edge of here," Brock told them, pulling out a guidebook and pointed at an image of a large stone Colosseum. The brunette looked at the image and smiled.

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

o 0 o

After paying for their bill and collecting the Pokémon they left in Nurse Joy's care, they headed out to get to the Colosseum Ruins. It didn't take them long to get to it, either, and the massive size of it made Lyra gasp out in surprise. Even the giant arch of the front gate, which had a strange marking carved out of the gray stone at the top, was huge. After each of them that finished gazing at the marvelous ruins in front of them, they walked forward and through the arch. On the inside, there were stair-like benches carved into the stone all around the inside against the walls. In the middle of the Colosseum was a giant stadium with white chalk marking the battlefield and Trainer's boxes. _It looks just like the inside of a Pokémon Gym!_ Lyra thought, pulling the visor of her hat over her eyes so she could look up at the giant sky above.

"Woah, the Colosseum!" Ash exclaimed, looking around with an excited grin on his face.

"Pika..." his Pokémon marveled as well, looking around from its usual perch on the boy's shoulder.

"In the Sinnoh region's ancient times, this is where true champion Trainers worked with their Pokémon to strengthen both body _and_ spirit," Brock explained as they walked out into the middle of the battlefield.

"Wow... so maybe if I battle here, it will help me to earn my third Badge!" Lyra said as they walked over to one of the Trainer boxes together and looked out at the battlefield. The brunette could just imagine herself as a Champion, with a Meganium by her side, crowd cheering loudly, and her opponent, nervous to be facing her, taking out a Poké Ball to battle her.

"My last day in Sinnoh... I think it'll be a day I'll remember forever," Khoury muttered to himself with a grin on his face.

"Yeah!"

"So Khoury, didn't you tell us that you're going to meet your father at the airport?" Dawn asked him, turning towards the two Trainers from Johto.

"Yeah," he replied, nodding his head. "I got a message from him saying that we were going to go home together later tonight, after the Johto Festival wraps up."

"Which means we don't have much time left!" Lyra told them, raising her fist excitedly to them. She then turned and looked at Khoury eagerly. "Let's have a Tag Battle quick! C'mon Khoury, what do you say?"

"Great idea!" Ash responded. "So Dawn, let's show this Johto team how strong _we_ can be, okay?"

"You've got it Ash!" Dawn answered, and the two of them started to walk forward to get to the other Trainer box across the stadium, but Brock stopped them by speaking up.

"Hold on," he brought up, and Dawn and Ash turned around, looking at him in confusion. However, the Pokémon Breeder smiled. "First we should pay our respects!"

"Oh! You're right!" the Pokémon Coordinator realized.

"Pay our respects?" Lyra repeated, and both her and Khoury blinked in confusion. Brock nodded and walked to the other side of the stadium, across from where they had entered in the first place, gesturing to them to follow. Doing as he said, her, Khoury, Ash and Dawn walked together to where an opening in the side of the stone was, and inside the opening where two large statues standing on a large pedestal. The statue on the left was a huge creature that stood on four legs. There were multiple spines coming out of its chest and backside, and the back of its head was long while it stared out into the sky above the stadium with a glaring look in its eye. Next to it was a bipedal creature. Its legs were bent, and its arms were raised slightly, but not by much. Its shoulders were large and round, and its neck was long and bent so the creature could look into the sky as well. "Are these Pokémon?" Lyra asked.

"It's Dialga and Palkia!" Dawn told her.

"They're legendary Pokémon from the Sinnoh region," Brock elaborated.

"Legendary? Really? Cool!"

"So this Colosseum's really important!" Khoury observed.

"Yeah! I've heard there's a legend that says Trainers' and Breeders' wishes come if they touch the statues, then train Pokémon!" Dawn explained to everyone. "Of course, I wonder if it's real."

"Let's find out!" Lyra suggested, and reached her right hand forward, touching the cold stone with her fingertips and holding her other hand to her heart. As she did this, she lowered her head and closed her eyes.

"I'm up for it," Ash replied, and everyone, even Pikachu and Piplup in Ash's and Dawn's arms, reached forward, lowered their head and closed their eyes. Everyone was silent as they made their wish, and they all pulled back at the same time.

"So Ash, did you wish for something?" Lyra asked the boy on the other side of Dawn.

"Of course! To become a Pokémon Master!" he replied matter-of-factually. Pikachu nodded and jumped up on the boy's shoulder again. "But before that, I'm working hard to win the Sinnoh League! Yes!" The boy clenched his fist confidently, and Lyra couldn't help but smile at him.

"Now that sounds like the Ash I know!" she commented, and everyone chuckled.

"Okay Lyra, what did _you_ wish for?" Dawn asked her.

"Well duh! To go back and win the Johto League, of course!" she answered, winking and raising one of her fingers. "But there's one more thing."

"What's that?"

"After I get back to Johto, I'd like to go on a Journey with a _really_ good friend of mine." Behind her, Khoury raised her eyebrows and opened his mouth in surprise, then smiled.

"Hey, you were really thinking about that, Lyra?" he asked.

"You can cheer each other on, and help each other grow, and get stronger on your Journey when you're with a friend," Ash agreed, nodding his head at her wish.

"So Dawn, I bet you probably wished you'd win your next Contest," Brock brought up, looking at the girl in front of him.

"You bet right!" she answered, and looked at the blue Pokémon in her arms. "Don't you feel the same way, Piplup?"

"Piplup!" it replied, raising both of its arms into the air. Just then, there was a large explosion that rocked the whole stadium. Everyone gasped, and Lyra and Khoury spun around, trying to find the source of the explosion. The ground behind them a ways exploded then, and two giant pink and magenta rods that ended in round disk-like orbs with two white claws sticking out of the side shot out and reached forward, snatching up Piplup and Pikachu in them. Both Pokémon cried out as they were snatched and pulled backwards.

"Oh no, Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed.

"No, Piplup!" Dawn yelled.

"Why would somebody grab Pikachu and Piplup?" Khoury questioned, and a giant robot exploded out of the ground. The body of the robot was under the ground, and its neck and head stuck out, but the arms were connected to the side of its head. Its tail also stuck out the back and it was just like the two arms coming out of the side of its head. Three voices from inside of the machine began to laugh loudly, and suddenly, a hatch in the roof opened up. Just then, the three Team Rocket members rose up from the hole, smirking at them from above.

"Asking dumb questions is a waste of my time," Jessie began.

"Though you have set us up for a good rhyme," James added on.

"On the wind."

"Past the stars."

"It's your dime!" Meowth chimed in. The two human members then stood back to back and glared at the group of Trainers below them. The woman placed her hands on her hips and the man took out a rose and held it in his two fingers.

"Bringing chaos at a break-neck pace."

"Dashing hope; putting fear in its place."

"A rose by any other name's just as sweet."

"When everything's worse, our work is complete."

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"Meowth, that's a name!"

"Putting the do-gooders in their place."

"Cause we're Team Rocket..."

"And we're in your face!" There was a popping sound at that moment, and a burst of light came out and poured out next to Jessie and James from their belts, and a light blue Pokémon appeared and raised its arm like it was saluting them from Jessie's side. From James's side, a small pink and purple Pokémon with a round red nose appeared.

"Wobbuffet!" the light blue Pokémon chanted.

"Mime, mime mime!" the smaller Pokémon mimicked, putting its hands under its chin.

"C'mon, not you again!" Brock sighed, putting his hand on his hip as Jessie and James returned their Pokémon.

"That sad excuse for a motto is a big waste of time!" Lyra shouted at them.

"Stop!" James screamed, flailing his arms and stomping his foot against the machine below angrily. "The only sad excuse is a talking twerp like you!"

"Besides, our elegant pro sets the mood for a rocking-rolling robot of the hour!" Meowth said, raising his hand and pressing a button on a oval-shaped controller in his hand. The machine opened its wide mouth lined with razor-sharp metal white teeth and dropped Piplup and Pikachu inside it. The two Pokémon screamed as they went down the machine's throat, and behind Lyra, Ash and Dawn gasped in horror.

"Pikachu and Piplup have got a new ride!~" Jessie sang, and the light blue Pokémon from before popped out of its Poké Ball and saluted them.

"Wobb, buffet!" it cried.

"Stylish, in our turbo-charged, fuel-efficient Digital Drapion!" James muttered, and the metal floor they were standing on began to lower as the hatch above them started to close.

"Live on!~" they all sang, and the mechanical Drapion started to dig underground, and as it did, it kicked up a great amount of dirt and dust, and everyone raised their hands to their faces to cover their mouths and eyes. They all coughed and waited as the dust settled down again, and looked back up to see that Team Rocket's machine was gone.

"I'll get them back!" Ash declared, pulling a Poké Ball from his belt. "Monferno, let's go!" From the Poké Ball, Monferno erupted out of the burst of light, flipping around and jumping into the hole that Team Rocket had created with their machine. "Let's go, too!"

"Right!" they all agreed, and ran towards the entrance, following the path of turned soil that Team Rocket left behind as they traveled underground.

o 0 o

The group followed the dirt trail out into the woods north of Oreburgh and continued following until even the city was not even in view anymore. They had ran for what seemed like forever before a bit in front of them, an orange creature leaped out of the ground, and its head was looking from side to side. "Monferno!" Ash called as they got closer and saw that it had jumped out of the ground. "Hey, so?"

"Mon mon, Monferno..." it muttered quietly, looking at the path ahead. When the group looked ahead, they saw that there were now two paths, one large one and a smaller one coming off the bigger one and curving to the right where it exited into the forest off the side of the path.

"It looks like they've split up," Ash stated.

"Oh no, then which way did they take Piplup and Pikachu?" Dawn asked, holding her own arms worriedly.

"Looks like we'll have to split up, too," Brock suggested as Ash took out a Poké Ball and pointed it at Monferno.

"'Kay, Monferno, return!" he said, and the red laser sucked it back inside. After putting his Poké Ball away, he turned to Dawn and looked at her with determination. "C'mon Dawn, let's go."

"I'm right behind you," she replied, and the two started to walk over the upturned dirt towards the path that led out into the woods.

"Here! Take this!" Khoury interjected, and as the Pokémon Coordinator turned around, he reached into his pocket and tossed her his PokéGear. She caught it in her hands and smiled.

"Great, thanks!" she thanked, and turn around to catch up to Ash.

"So come on; let's go this way," Brock said as the two disappeared amongst the bushes and trees.

"Okay," Lyra and Khoury agreed, and the three continued down the main path they were taking. Breathing heavily in and out from all the running they were doing, Lyra ignored the heavy pressure pushing down on her lungs and continued following the path of upturned dirt. However, when they saw what was ahead, they all stopped and gasped. The path was stopped abruptly and in its way was a large river. The path of upturned dirt that showed where Team Rocket was disappeared under this river as well.

"Oh no, they must have used this river to make their get-away!" Khoury exclaimed, but then a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "But... did they go upstream? Or did they go downstream?"

"That's a good question," Brock muttered in response, all three of them turning their heads up and down the river to see if they could find any clues at all.

"Well, we'll just have to pick one and find out," Lyra guessed. "One thing's for sure: there's an even chance we'll be right." Turning her head around, she pointed to left, where the river was flowing downstream. She took a couple steps but Khoury stopped her with his words.

"It's at a time like this that we need to think logically and scientifically, y'know?" he told her, and she stopped and turned around.

"Yeah, but we really don't have any clues to go on," the brunette responded. Khoury knew she was right and let out a sigh, biting on the nail of his thumb as he looked around. Suddenly, he cocked his head as a stream of water shot into the air next to the river. From out of the stream, a red and white crab-like Pokémon shot out of it.

"Corphish!" it cried as it was carried up by the water. Behind it, several more streams of water shot up, and with it, more Water-type Pokémon shot up as well. Wooper was next, then a Krabby, a Poliwhirl, a Poliwag, and finally a Quagsire.

"Look at that!" Lyra said, stepping forward to watch them closer. Just then, a big smile grew across Khoury's face as he watched the Pokémon.

"I get it now!" he exclaimed. "Team Rocket must have gone upstream!" Without saying another word, he ran up the side of the stream without even waiting for Lyra or Brock.

"Huh? Khoury?" Lyra asked. Beside her, Brock let out a breath of realization and then smiled and turned to Lyra.

"Oh, I see! Let's go have a look."

"Oh... huh?" Though she was confused as to why the two Pokémon Breeders decided to go upstream, she went with it anyways and followed them. Khoury's walk turned into a brisk run, and the two behind him did the same to catch up with him. While they ran, various Water-type Pokémon were popping up from the ground beside them.

"It's obvious these Pokémon along the river are using Dig to get away from something," Khoury explained to them as they ran. "I think that's evidence that Team Rocket must have passed right through here."

"You know, you may be right, Khoury," Brock replied. "And that's a very clever theory!"

"Ace Detective right before our eyes," Lyra added, a grin growing on her face as she realized what made him come down here.

"Hey now, why don't you let Ash and Dawn know," he suggested.

"Okay," she answered, and reached into her pocket and took out her PokéGear. Scrolling through and finding Khoury's number, she called it and waited for the screen to pop up. After a bit, Dawn's face appeared on the screen. She looked like she was lost or confused.

"Lyra?" she answered.

"Dane! Are you at the river at the main path?"

"Yeah," she replied.

"Okay good. We're following the river upstream," Lyra told her.

"Yeah," she repeated, nodding.

"Follow the river upstream as far as you can go. We think Team Rocket is going up this way," she explained to the Coordinator.

"I got it!" Dawn replied, then looked up from the screen, which Lyra guessed to talk to Ash. "She says Team Rocket's at the top of the falls." Looking back down at the screen, she nodded. "We'll be right there."

"Okay," Lyra concluded, and shut the screen, placing her PokéGear back in her pocket. Once the machine was completely settled, she looked back up and saw a waterfall ahead. As Khoury suspected, the giant Drapion machine was sitting in the clearing by the falls, and Team Rocket was sitting in a circle, talking amongst themselves.

"There you are!" Khoury shouted as they approached, and the three members looked up in surprise.

"It's over. You guys are through!" Lyra told them. Beside Team Rocket, Pikachu and Piplup called to them, and Lyra saw that the two Pokémon were trapped inside a small metal cage. The two Pokémon smiled as they saw them. Just then, the three Rocket members jumped up, glaring at the three.

"So how'd you lugs tail us without a trail?" the Meowth asked them angrily.

"We watched the Pokémon that live along the river," Khoury told them.

"So give us back Pikachu and Piplup, right now!" Brock demanded in the middle of the two. The three Rocket members stood up straight, but they smirked.

"Sure! Soon as you stop being twerps," the woman, Jessie, replied, and then looked down at the Scratch Cat Pokémon beside her. "Meowth, I think it's time to fire up Plan B-1."

"What fun!" it exclaimed, and turned around, picking up the remote control beside it and pressing a big red button on it. "You're done!" The machine's tail then came to life and reached down, wrapping its claws around the top of Pikachu and Piplup's cage and pulled it up into the air. The two Pokémon yelled as they were lifted into the air, and everyone gasped. Immediately, Lyra's hand reached for her pocket to grab a Poké Ball, but suddenly, a loud shrill cry stopped them.

"Starrrap! Starraptor!" it sounded, and a Staraptor flew down from above, its body becoming surrounded in white streams of energy as it flew down, and it crashed into the tail. Where it had hit, the tail split apart, and the claw let go of the cage as it was separated from its body. As the claw flew through the air and landed behind Lyra, Khoury and Brock, the machine started to spark and exploded, causing Team Rocket to cry out in horror. In the air, both Pikachu and Piplup cried out as their cage through flew the air, but Staraptor flew behind it. After saying a few words to them, both Pokémon pushed against the edges of the cages, and with one swift movement, Staraptor swooped its wing down, breaking the cage apart.

"Alright! Great going, Staraptor!" Lyra heard Ash call, and they turned and saw Ash and Dawn run out from the woods beside them. The two stopped and caught their Pokémon.

"Piplup!" Dawn exclaimed, and hugged her Pokémon tightly.

"You okay?" Ash asked his Pokémon, and the Mouse Pokémon nodded. Lyra smiled at the reunion, and then turned towards Team Rocket. The smoke had cleared around them, and the three had been caught up in the explosion, so their white outfits were gray with soot and ragged from the heat, and their hair was raggedy and stems of it stuck out at odd angles.

"You know, when certain saps get unstuck in twerps roam free, things just aren't how they should be," James muttered, and Jessie suddenly growled and clenched her fists, then jumped from foot to foot.

"I've had it with this!" she screamed, then took out a Poké Ball and held it in her hand. "That's enough! C'mon Seviper, do your stuff! Show 'em you're tough!" As the Poké Ball burst open, a large snake-like Pokémon with dark blue-green scales and various gold and purple spots on it with a pair of two huge red fangs sticking out of its mouth appeared.

"Seviper!" it cried, leaping forward.

"Carnivine, follow their lead!" James called, tossing his own Poké Ball forward. Like before, however, instead of jumping in next to Seviper, when the light faded around the green Pokémon, it turned around and jumped at its Trainer, hugging him tightly and biting onto his head. "It's a battle, not a dinner dance!" he exclaimed, struggling to get out of the Grass-type Pokémon's grip.

"'Kay, that's it! You're _way_ over the line!" Ash yelled angrily.

"Ignore them Seviper and use Bite!" Jessie commanded. Beside her, James managed to pull his Pokémon off him and looked forward.

"Carnivine, Vine Whip!" he ordered. Both Pokémon obeyed their Trainers and charged forward, their eyes set on Ash and Dawn. However, the two weren't going to sit back and let them reach them.

"Now Piplup, use BubbleBeam!"

"Quick Pikachu, you use Thunderbolt!" Both of the Pokémon that were captured leaped forward and high into the air. Piplup threw its head back, and then opened its beak, firing a barrage of light blue bubbles from it straight at the two Pokémon. Meanwhile, Pikachu crouched its body together and fired a powerful beam of yellow electricity at them. The two attacks hit their mark, and Team Rocket's Pokémon were pushed back right into their Trainers. The Team Rocket trio screamed as the electricity coursed through their bodies and the BubbleBeam's water made it even stronger, and suddenly, the earth under them exploded, rocketing them high into the air in a diagonal line until they disappeared.

"We're blasting off again!" they screamed as they flew through the air, and in a flash of light, they disappeared.

"Alright!" Dawn and Ash cheered at the same time, and then turned around to look at the group of three.

"Amazing, Khoury!" Ash complimented. "I can't believe you knew Team Rocket went upstream!"

"_Ace Detective_ Khoury from now on," Brock added. Lyra leaned forward and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"And he figured it all out just watching the river Pokémon!" she finished, and the boy beside her blushed with embarrassment, chuckling nervously to himself.

"Because of you, our Pokémon are back!" Dawn told him.

"Aw, thanks," he replied, looking down at Pikachu and Piplup behind them. "But the main thing is everyone's safe."

"Piplup!" the Penguin Pokémon replied, waving its wings happily.

"Pikachu!" Just then, Ash clenched his fist determinedly and looked at Lyra and Khoury.

"Now, let's get back to that Tag Battle!"

o 0 o

Retracing their steps to get back, the group managed to get back to the Colosseum in an hour or so. Pumped for the battle that was going to be held, Lyra put her backpack down in front of the statues of Dialga and Palkia and collected everything she might need, such as her Poké Balls and Pokédex. She then rushed over to the Trainer's box that was on the left side of the battlefield. For once, Khoury was pumped about this battle as well, and, after doing the same, he jogged over to Lyra's left. Ash and Dawn also followed suit, and then stood next to each other on the other side of the stadium. Pikachu and Piplup also stood at their feet in between the two Trainers. Brock moved into the middle to act as the referee. Once everyone was ready, he looked forward. "The rules are: each Trainer gets one Pokémon. The Tag Team battle will be over when both of one of the team's Pokémon are unable to continue. Alright, begin!" Everyone smiled at each other with determination as Brock called out, and Ash was the first one to take out a Poké Ball.

"'Kay Monferno, I choose you!" he cried, tossing his Poké Ball onto the battlefield.

"Cyndaquil, go!" Dawn shouted, swinging her arm and letting her own Poké Ball fly. Both balls opened up at the same time, and the two Fire-type Pokémon cried out as they were released. Cyndaquil released a cry afterwards and lit up the flames on its back.

"They're using two Fire-types..." Khoury whispered to himself beside Lyra, and then smirked. "So, that decides that. Okay Totodile, come on out!" Taking a Poké Ball from his pocket, he tossed it forward, and the light blue Pokémon came out in a burst of light, waving its legs in the air before landing. Lyra grinned and pulled out her own Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center before throwing it onto the battlefield.

"Chikorita, it's your turn!" she declared. In a bright flash of light, Chikorita jumped out and landed next to Totodile.

"Chika chika!" it cried happily, then landed and looked at its opponents with confidence. Both Ash and Dawn gasped at Lyra's decision, and beside her, Khoury looked at her like she had three heads.

"Huh? Wait a minute, Lyra! Isn't a Grass-type Pokémon like Chikorita a terrible match-up against Fire-types?" he asked her.

"Nah," she replied nonchalantly. "See, _my_ Chikorita's tough." She then placed one hand on her hip and pointed her finger in the air with the other. "Besides, I've got an idea."

"An idea?" Khoury repeated, raising his eyebrows.

"The point is, as long as you and I work as a team, we've _got_ to win this Tag Battle," she told him, and this seemed to boost his confidence, a smirk growing on his face.

"You're right, Lyra," he responded. "Tag-team Partners have to believe in each other. Doing that is the key to success." Lyra nodded and looked onto the battlefield.

"You bet. That's what it's all about."

"Alright, I'm warning 'ya! There's no holding back!" Ash yelled from across the battlefield, and then began the match. "Monferno, Flamethrower now!"

"Cyndaquil, Swift! Let's go!" Right away, both Pokémon took in deep breaths and leaned their heads forward. From Monferno's mouth, a powerful stream of red-yellow fire shot out. Next to it, Cyndaquil released a barrage of golden stars from its mouth. Both attacks shot straight towards Chikorita and Totodile at a fast speed, but Lyra smirked, expecting the attacks.

"Chikorita, use Light Screen!" she commanded, and the Leaf Pokémon nodded. Leaping forward and landing in front of Totodile, it lowered its head and a large golden box of energy made up of golden diamonds appeared around them. The Flamethrower and Swift collided with the box, and both Pokémon lowered their heads sparks of flames and stars broke through and grazed them, but did little damage. "There was hardly any damage. 'Kay Khoury, you're up!"

"Okay! Totodile, use Water Gun on Monferno!" he ordered. Jumping up into the air from behind Chikorita, it turned its head and fired a blast of water from its jaw at Ash's Pokémon, the water attack hitting its target. The attack knocked it back and onto the ground, where it moaned in pain.

"Monferno, no!" Ash exclaimed. Meanwhile, Khoury turned and gazed at Lyra.

"Lyra, I bet you chose Chikorita _just_ for that Light Screen, didn't you?" he asked her.

"And it was a pretty good choice, wasn't it?" the brunette responded as Monferno slowly stood up from getting hit with Totodile's attack.

"Monferno! Come on!" Ash urged as it struggled to get up.

"Poor Monferno took a lot of damage," Dawn muttered, also watching her partner's Pokémon. "Now Cyndaquil, Swift!" Upon her command, Cyndaquil opened its mouth once again and fired a barrage of stars from it straight at its two opponents. Chikorita smirked and lowered its head as the Swift came towards them, and a golden box appeared around the two again, blocking most of the attack. Dawn gasped, and Cyndaquil did as well, being surprised that its own attack didn't hit and it teetered back, managing to catch itself. However, the flame on its back went out. "Cyndaquil, take it easy, please!"

"Chikorita, use Razor Leaf on Cyndaquil!" Lyra ordered, and her Pokémon leaped into the air, swinging its head and firing multiple leaves from the large one on its head at Cyndaquil. Because it was still surprised, it didn't have time to dodge, and each of the leaves struck it.

"Totodile, use Aqua Tail now!" Khoury added. Totodile cried out as it jumped into the air, and its tail became surrounded in a spiral of water as it got closer and closer. It then swung its tail around, striking Cyndaquil with the water attack. Cyndaquil let out a cry as it flew backwards, landing at the ground by the Trainer's box. Piplup and Pikachu yelled at it worriedly.

"I think Cyndaquil's still not used to battling and gets all freaked out when the attacks don't work, y'know?" Ash said to Dawn.

"C'mon, Cyndaquil! Get up!" she cheered. Finally recovering from Totodile's powerful Water Gun, Monferno finally sat up and glared at its opponents, but it still looked tired. Beside it, Cyndaquil struggled as hard as it could to get up.

"Awesome! Everything's going just perfectly!" Khoury cheered excitedly.

"I'm gonna aim for Cyndaquil one more time," she informed her partner. "Now Chikorita, use SolarBeam!"

"Quick Totodile, run and then use Bite!" Khoury added on.

"Chika chika!" Chikorita cried, taking a step forward before closing its eyes and raising the leaf on its head. Golden sparkles then sprinkled down from the sunlight above and the leaf on its head started to glow bright gold as it gathered energy. Next to it, Totodile took off, running and looking at Cyndaquil.

"Alright Monferno, go and help Cyndaquil!" Ash instructed his Pokémon. His Pokémon nodded, and as Totodile approached it, it jumped to the other Fire-type and helped it up.

"Cyndaquil, use SmokeScreen!" As Monferno lifted up Cyndaquil, the Fire Mouse Pokémon opened its mouth and released a stream of thick black smoke from its mouth. The smoke instantly spread around and Totodile stopped right away as the smoke surrounded it. Meanwhile, Chikorita yelled out as the sparkles faded around the leaf, declaring that the SolarBeam was all charged up.

"We're all charged up!" Lyra announced.

"'Kay Totodile!" Khoury yelled to his Pokémon.

"SolarBeam, let's go!" the brunette ordered. The gold glow then faded from the leaf on Chikorita's head and spread throughout its entire body, and it opened its mouth, releasing a huge and powerful golden, almost white beam of energy all at once. The SolarBeam broke apart the SmokeScreen attack, and upon Khoury's command, Totodile had crushed itself against the ground so it wouldn't get hit with its partner's attack. The two Fire-types on the other side, however, gasped as the attack shot towards them.

"Monferno, use Dig now!" Ash ordered. Jumping into the air, Monferno dived into the ground, digging with its paws to hide in a hole. Finally, the SolarBeam shot forward and faded, and Lyra gasped in horror when she saw that in Monferno's place, there was a hole where it had escaped into.

"It dodged?" Khoury exclaimed. Just then, the ground broke underneath Totodile's body, and Monferno jumped out of the ground, uppercutting Totodile as it did. Totodile cried out as it was knocked backwards, and it landed on top of Chikorita. The two Pokémon let out yelps as they rolled against the battlefield and finally skidded to a stop. "Totodile!"

"Chikorita!" Back at the hole it jumped out of, Monferno called into it, and Cyndaquil leaped out from inside it. It had also used the hole Monferno dug to dodge the massive SolarBeam attack. As it landed on the ground, it lit up the flames on its back.

"Monferno, use Mach Punch on Chikorita!" Ash commanded his Pokémon. Letting out a shrill cry, Monferno leaped forward, pulling back one of its fists as it jumped at Chikorita. Its fist became surrounded in a light blue light, and it landed in front of Lyra's Pokémon, bringing its fist forward and striking Chikorita with it. The Leaf Pokémon yelled out as it flew backwards and landed on the ground.

"Cyndaquil, use Swift on Totodile!" Dawn followed up, and the Fire Mouse Pokémon once again fired a barrage of stars from its mouth. The stars hit their mark this time, and both Pokémon fell at their Trainers' feet.

"They both took so much damage, Lyra! What do we do now?" Khoury asked her, looking down at his Totodile. Despite the dire situation, Lyra smiled and looked at her teammate.

"Remember Khoury, we'll win this for sure as long as we believe in our Pokémon!" she assured him, then looked down at her Chikorita and cheered it on. "Come on, get up Chikorita! You can do it!" The Pokémon at her feet shook its body at first, but then quickly got right back up, swinging its leaf with confidence. It was so impressive that even Ash and Dawn gasped in surprise.

"Even with all that damage, Chikorita _still_ got up!" she muttered in surprise.

"Hey, Lyra, you're right!" Khoury claimed, and looked forward at his Pokémon. "Totodile, I believe in you, too!" His Pokémon got up slowly as well, but after getting on its feet, it jumped up to regain its posture and leaned forward, growling strangely. Suddenly, Totodile's body began to glow white, and everyone watching the battle gasped in shock.

"Could it be?" Ash and Dawn exclaimed at the same time. Totodile's form then began to change shape, and its arms started to grow longer; as did its feet and legs. Its body also grew bigger, and a spike rose out from its head, its jaw becoming more rounder as well. Finally, the glow around Totodile faded, and in its place, a Croconaw stood.

"Croconaaaww!" it cried out triumphantly, clenching its fists as it did.

"Wow! Totodile evolved into Croconaw!" Khoury exclaimed happily.

"So that's Croconaw, huh?" Lyra asked rhetorically, and both her and Khoury took out their Pokédexes at the same time. **"Croconaw, the Big Jaw Pokémon, and the evolved form of Totodile. Once it bites down on something, it won't let go until it loses its fangs; but new fangs grow back quickly."** From Khoury's own Pokédex, he was looking up the moves that Croconaw had learned through evolving. **"The moves Croconaw is able to use are: Bite, Aqua Tail, Superpower, and Hydro Pump."**

"Croconaw, you can use lots of great moves," the Pokémon Breeder commented as the two put away their Pokédexes. "Okay, Croconaw, Hydro Pump! Let's go!" Taking in a deep breath, Croconaw released a large and powerful blast of water from its mouth. The attack soared across the stage and struck both Cyndaquil and Monferno, who cried out as the water attack hit them and they were sent backwards. Dawn and Ash sucked in a gulp of air at the same time at the speed and power of the attack. "That Hydro Pump worked like a charm."

"It's obvious with _that_ kind of power, Croconaw's stronger than Totodile was," Dawn commented.

"Hey Monferno, get up now!" Ash called nervously to his Pokémon. Both of the Pokémon were weakened by the attack that hit them and they struggled to recover from it.

"Let's finish this up!" Lyra butted in and pointed forward. "'Kay Chikorita, use Tackle on Monferno!" Like a rocket, Chikorita dashed forward, its four feet moving as fast as it could as it charged.

"Cyndaquil, use Flame Wheel on Chikorita!" Dawn ordered.

"Monferno, back it up with Flamethrower!" Ash added. As Cyndaquil jumped up, it started charging towards Chikorita as well, and it lit up the flames on its back. At the same time, Monferno got up and took in a deep breath. As Cyndaquil jumped into the air and started to spin, the flames on its back extended and covered its body in a red-yellow fire until it looked like a large fiery wheel. Finally, Monferno opened its mouth and released a powerful red-yellow stream of fire from its mouth at Cyndaquil. The Flamethrower hit the back of Cyndaquil's Flame Wheel, and the extra boost caused it to spin faster and the flames around it to grow bigger. Suddenly, Cyndaquil shot forward, the Flamethrower pushing it and adding onto its speed. Both Lyra and Chikorita uttered a noise as Cyndaquil shot towards it at blinding speeds, and then collided into the Leaf Pokémon. Chikorita cried out in pain as the flames hit it, and it fell back, skidding against the battlefield until it slumped in defeat.

"Chikorita is unable to battle!" Brock announced, looking down at the little Grass-type.

"Chikorita!" Lyra gasped, but Khoury was right on top of them.

"Croconaw, use Aqua Tail on Cyndaquil now!" he told it.

"Cro...conaw!" the Pokémon yelled, dashing forward as its tail became surrounded in a spiraling stream of water. It then jumped high into the air as it approached Dawn's Cyndaquil, who was recovering from the Flame Wheel attack. The flames disappeared around it just in time for it to look up at Croconaw above it. Flipping forward to put its tail in between its legs, it fell forward to use the fall to gain speed for the attack.

"Cyndaquil, dodge it quick!" At her orders, Cyndaquil quickly dashed out of the way of the attack. Just in time, too, as Croconaw crashed on the ground and the water around its tail fading away.

"Monferno, Mach Punch!" Ash commanded, and Monferno leaped into action, running forward with lightning-quick speed, and pulling back one of its fists, it jumped at Croconaw as it started to glow white. The scene seemed to move in slow motion as Croconaw saw Monferno jump at it, but didn't have time to move out of the way, and with one sweep of the Playful Pokémon's arm, the Big Jaw Pokémon went spinning back, landing on the ground and rolling on it for a bit before landing next to Chikorita.

"Croconaw is unable to battle!" Brock announced, then pointed over to Ash and Dawn's side. "So the winners are Ash and Dawn!" Pikachu and Piplup jumped for joy and the two Trainers let out a sigh of relief, as did Cyndaquil and Monferno. Lyra and Khoury quickly rushed over to their Pokémon's side to make sure that they were okay.

"Chikorita, hang in there!" she told it, putting a hand on its back.

"Croconaw, are you okay?" Khoury asked his own Pokémon. Upon hearing their Trainer's voice, they stood up and grinned at them.

"Chika!"

"Croconaw!" they uttered, and both Lyra and Khoury giggled at their Pokémon, letting out a silent breath of relief. On the other side of the stadium, Ash and Dawn were kneeled down next to their Pokémon as well.

"Monferno, you were awesome!" he praised, putting his hands on the orange monkey's shoulders. The Pokémon grinned and nodded its head.

"Wow! Cyndaquil, you were amazing as well!" Dawn added.

"Cynda, cynda!" her Pokémon replied to her, a happy smile stretched under its nose. Lyra took out Chikorita's Poké Ball and recalled her Pokémon into it so it could rest. Khoury did the same, and both of them stood up. Ash and Dawn returned their Pokémon to their Poké Balls as well, and they grinned across at the two Trainers from Johto. Lyra and Khoury returned their grins with a smile and nod. Meanwhile, Brock walked over and picked up his backpack.

"Now, nothing like a good lunch after working up an appetite after such a fierce battle," Brock said, holding up a bag with sandwiches he had made before they left the Pokémon Center. "What do you say?"

"Great! I'm starving!" Ash exclaimed.

"Me too!" Dawn added, and Lyra and Khoury agreed as well. The group of Trainers all walked up into the stands, sitting on a line of the stone benches as Brock passed out their sandwiches and cans of Soda Pop. Finally, everyone dug in when everything was passed out.

"Y'know, Lyra, using Light Screen to weaken their attack and then counterstrike; I thought it was a good strategy!" Khoury praised after swallowing a mouthful of his food.

"But don't forget we were up against Ash with seven Badges, and Dane with four Ribbons!" she told him, then turned and looked at Ash and Dawn to her right. "The strategy may have been good, but it wasn't enough, that's all."

"But I gotta tell you, Totodile evolving into Croconaw was the biggest surprise of all!" Ash told Khoury, and Pikachu nodded in response.

"I'll tell you, Ash and Dawn's teamwork was something to see," Brock commented. "But the team of Khoury and Lyra worked together just as well." Both Johto Trainers looked at Brock in surprise, their eyebrows raised slightly. "Honestly! I wasn't really sure who was gonna win."

"Well, Cyndaquil hasn't had much battle experience, so this was perfect!" Dawn said, taking a sip of her lemon-lime soda.

"Lyra, there's no doubt you're going to be a great Trainer, and Khoury a great Breeder one of these days," Brock complimented, smiling warmly at the two. "Just make sure you keep working together to support each other just like today."

"Together?" Lyra repeated, looking at Khoury to her left. Just then, Khoury's PokéGear began to ring, and although he was surprised, he quickly answered it. When he opened it, he saw Tohmas's face appear on the screen.

"Oh, hello Dad," Khoury greeted.

"Nice to see you Khoury!" Tohmas replied. "I've just arrived here at the airport, so I wanted to give a call and find out where I should meet you when you two get here." Suddenly, Khoury gasped and leaped to his feet as a bead of sweat ran down the side of his face.

"I totally forgot! The Johto flight is leaving any minute!" It was Lyra's turn to jump up, as battling with Ash and Khoury had completely rid her mind of the thought.

"Oh no! We gotta move!" she exclaimed. Everyone else jumped up as well, and Lyra and Khoury quickly scrambled around, shoving their things into their backpacks, not caring for neatness. After everyone got together their stuff, they moved as fast as they could, jumping out from the side of the stands and running as fast as they could towards the exit.

o 0 o

The group booked it to the Oreburgh City Airport, trying to run as fast as they could without running into anyone along the way. As the sun was setting along the top of the treetops around them, they finally arrived and rushed in as fast as they could. Running in as fast as they could, they quickly spotting Tohmas looking out the large glass windows of the airport with his hands patiently behind his back. When he heard their footsteps rushing towards them, he turned around and smiled when he saw them. "Khoury!" he called, waving his hand to get their attention. Finally, they approached Tohmas and everyone let out a huge sigh of a mix between relief and exhaustion. Lyra's heart was practically thumping in her throat. Never had she had to run this much in all her life before meeting Dawn, Ash and Brock.

"Made it..." Khoury managed to sputter out in between breaths.

"And got in right under the wire, too," Lyra replied, also breathing in and out heavily. Finally, after everyone managed to catch their breath, Lyra and Khoury moved over next to Tohmas and looked at their friends. It was Khoury who spoke up first.

"Hey Brock, thanks for everything," he told the Pokémon Breeder. "There's still so much more I want to learn, though."

"Just remember, the number one job of a Breeder is connecting with Pokémon," the taller Breeder replied. "All you need is more time to meet with different types, and Trainers, and Coordinators, y'know?"

"Right!" Khoury answered, nodding his head to show he agreed. "I'll do my best."

"Hey, I know!" Lyra brought up, and turned to Khoury. "When we get back to Johto, Khoury, let's go on a Journey _together!_" Khoury gasped in surprise at Lyra's request, not expecting it at all. "You said so yourself that it's great to be around friends, right? Think of you and me together; we'd really be able to help each other sharpen up our skills, y'know?" Khoury blinked in disbelief and continued to stare at her.

"This is such a surprise! I can't believe you'd ask me to do that," Khoury responded. Right away, Lyra frowned.

"Does that mean... no?" However, Khoury shook his head and smiled.

"The reason Totodile evolved was because of _you_, Lyra. I think the intense way you believe in your Pokémon got transferred over to Totodile somehow," he stated, and Lyra couldn't help but smile at his compliment.

"Khoury!" she gushed.

"I'm sure of it! When I'm with you, it feels like great things are going to happen all the time!" Nervously, he looked down at his hands, but looked back up and stared into the brunette's brown eyes and held out his hand. "And so... I'd like to go with you."

"Well, it's my pleasure," Lyra told him, reaching forward and shaking his hand.

"Of course!" Ash included. "Truth is, there's nothing like good friends, and Lyra, I just know you're gonna get your third Johto Badge, too!"

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu added, smiling at Lyra as well.

"And to win it, you'll be battling Whitney from the Goldenrod Gym, or Morty from the Ecruteak Gym," Brock informed, and an image of Morty and Eusine flashed through her head, the brunette remembering how powerful his Gengar was. "They're both really strong."

"No problem!" Lyra responded, grinning widely. "I'll just have to do my best no matter who it is!" The brunette then turned her head to look at Ash and Dawn. "Hey Ash, you're going for your eighth Sinnoh Gym Badge, right?"

"Yeah," the Pokémon Trainer answered, nodding his head. "If I win at the Sunyshore Gym, then it'll finally be time to be in the Sinnoh League!" Lyra grinned at his response and looked at Dawn. "And lots of luck to you on your fifth Ribbon, Dane."

"Thanks! I'll get number five for sure!" Dawn replied. "And that's going to get me to the Grand Festival!"

"Piplup!" the Pokémon in her arms added confidently.

"It's obvious that my son owes you a lot for all the help you've given him," Tohmas spoke up, looking at Brock. "I'm grateful." He glanced over at Lyra and Khoury and smiled at them as he reached into his back pocket. "So please accept this little gift." Taking the object out, he held it forward to Brock. It was a blue object that Lyra knew all too well.

"Cool! A PokéGear!" she exclaimed.

"Woah, are you sure?" Ash asked Tohmas, and the man chuckled lightly.

"Of course!" Brock gasped and held out his hands as Khoury's father plopped it in his hands.

"Thank you so much!" he thanked, and him, Ash and Dawn gathered around and marveled at the device.

"Brock! Do you think I could call you if I ever need any help or advice?" Khoury asked excitedly.

"Sure! Anything you want is fine," the Pokémon Breeder replied. The two quickly exchanged their PokéGear numbers, and the flight attendant started calling everyone for the flight to Johto. After saying one last good-bye to everyone, Tohmas, Lyra and Khoury made their way onto the blimp and sat down in their seats. As the engines started to come to sputter to life and the blimp took off, Lyra and Khoury looked out their window to see Ash, Dawn and Brock waving at them from the balcony, and waved back to them until finally, they were no more than dots on the ground. Lyra smiled as she sat back in her seat. While they may never see each other again, their time in the Sinnoh region with Dawn, Ash and Brock will always be fresh in Lyra's mind.

* * *

Woo! The Johto Festival arc is finally over! And I wrapped it up with a nice big chapter. I didn't want to have to split it up into two, because that would mean two separate updates. XD Now we can move on and continue Lyra's Pokémon Journey! But this time, a new friend will be coming along with her. I'm sure the pair will have loads of fun traveling through the Johto region together! :D It was a nice little detour, but I am definitely ready to start writing Gym Battles again, lol.

But, all in all, the chapters were very easy to write out, surprisingly. And I've been updating once a week to help them go by quickly. But, after next chapter, I'm going to start updating the story every other week again. Why after next week? 1). To give you guys a reward for staying put through the Johto Festival arc and 2). To catch up on the schedule for all the time I didn't update. XD

So why did I say that next chapter would be a reward? Because Lyra's going in for her next Gym Battle! Who is it going to be? And will she win her next Badge? You'll have to find out next chapter! :) Anyways, you guys, thanks so much for reading and sticking through. I hope you all won't be disappointed! As always, thanks for reading/reviewing, and see you next chapter!


	40. The Incredibly Pretty Girl

_Woo! We're finally back on Lyra's Journey! And what better way to start off her Journey than a challenge at a Gym, right? Enjoy!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, and all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 37**

The blimp took all night to travel from Sinnoh to get to Johto. However, it might as well have took a hundred years to Lyra. The minutes went by like months to her. She was ready to start her Journey once again, this time accompanied by her good friend Khoury. "Lyra, you should try and get to sleep. You'll need your rest to start your Journey tomorrow," Tohmas told her as she restlessly continued to move around in her chair on the large blimp.

"I'm just so excited! I can't wait to start traveling around again!" Lyra replied. "What about you, Khoury?" Turning around to look at the seat in front of her, she saw that the boy was fast asleep, sleeping soundly despite the loud voice she was talking in. "How can he sleep?"

"Well, you guys have been traveling around for the past week. I'm sure he's beat," Tohmas said, chuckling at her energy. "I'm sure that if you just lie your head down and close your eyes, you'll be asleep in no time." Doing as he said, she let out a sigh before lying down across the large seats, tipping her hat over her eyes before closing them. She fretted at first, but after a while, sleep finally took her within its warm, comfortable grip.

When she next opened her eyes, the sun was shining above her, as well as Tohmas grinning at her over the seat. "Well, you woke up with perfect timing," he stated. "We just landed in Goldenrod City!" Rubbing her eyes and yawning loudly, Lyra sat up, a strap of her overalls hanging off her shoulder. Her hat slipped off and fell to the dusty floor below. In front of her, Khoury chuckled at her morning appearance as she blinked a few times. Suddenly, Tohmas's words sank in, and she gasped happily, a big, happy smile forming on her face. Fixing her outfit and placing her hat on her head, she jumped on her feet, and snatching up her backpack, the three stepped off the blimp.

o 0 o

"So Dad, I guess this is where we go our separate ways," Khoury muttered, looking happy, but saddened at the same time.

"Looks like it," Tohmas answered, placing his hand on Khoury's shoulder. "But we'll see each other real soon, okay?"

"I'm sorry we're not staying with the Johto Festival, Tohmas..." Lyra admitted, looking down at the ground sadly. Tohmas grinned and tapped the bottom of her chin with his fingers, surprising her and having her raise her head.

"Lyra, I don't want you to worry about that," he said. "Wanna know a secret? I knew that you'd be the one to take Khoury on his Journey from the moments I laid eyes on you."

"You what?" Lyra gasped, raising her eyebrows in shock. Khoury also opened his mouth in surprise. Tohmas laughed at their faces and winked at the girl.

"Khoury was never brave enough to go out and travel on his own, and I could see right away with that your endless energy could inspire him to go out and have his own adventures. When your friendship grew, it was already set in stone."

"Dad..."

"Your mother would have been so proud of you, Khoury. And I am proud of you," Tohmas told him. A hint of a smile formed in the corners of Khoury's mouth, and they started to quiver slightly as tears started to brim along the bottoms of his eyelids. Taking a step forward, the two embraced. "You'll do just fine. You'll have Lyra and Croconaw to protect you. And if you ever feel like talking or anything, I'm just a phone call away."

"Thank you," Khoury muttered, pulling away and wiping under his glasses with the arms of his shirt. After Khoury looked up and smiled again, Lyra continued.

"Hey, Tohmas... Thanks for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime," she muttered. When he smiled back and nodded, she shook away the sad feelings and grinned from ear-to-ear. "Are you going to go home, or do you still have places to go with the Johto Festival?"

"Hey, just because you two are leaving doesn't mean that the world stops," the older man joked, and the two kids giggled. "I still have a job to do. We're going to the Orre Region next."

"Well, good luck out there, Dad," Khoury replied.

"Do your best!" Lyra added. Tohmas nodded, and after a wave, he turned around and walked back onto the blimp, alone this time. The two kids watched as the blimp took off, waving up to it and saying good-bye. After the blimp was nothing but a small speckle in the clear blue sky, they turned around, deciding to head off to the large city's Pokémon Center to decide what they were going to do next.

o 0 o

The two moved around the city, dodging the hustle and bustle of it while still trying to find the location they were going to. It was hard, though, as even residents of the city got lost in its many stores and streets. With help from Khoury's PokéGear, however, they managed to find their way to the Pokémon Center. Since their Pokémon were all rested up, they sat in the huge lobby to decide what they were going to do. "I can't believe we're in Goldenrod City again after all this time! To think that just a month ago, I had just entered this city," Lyra muttered, looking into the ceiling, reminiscing about her time here; how her and Ethan had come here together, and then went to the Department Store, where they met Khoury and Tohmas.

"So, are you going to take Brock's advice and challenge the Gym Leader here?" Khoury asked, snapping Lyra out of her flashbacks. The girl grinned and nodded.

"Definitely! I need to catch up on collecting my Badges from the time I was gone," Lyra replied, smiling confidently. "Besides, all the battling experience my Pokémon got should make this next Gym a breeze."

"I like your confidence!" a voice spoke up, and Lyra and Khoury looked up to see a young girl with the backs of her pink hair tied up into two pigtails behind her head walk up to them with a happy grin painted on her face. Right away, Lyra noticed how pretty the girl was. She looked to be in her twenties, and she wore a white button-up t-shirt with red rims. She also wore blue denim short shorts, which showed off her thin, long white legs. At her feet was a round, pink Pokémon with a curl of hair at the top of its head and pointed ears that ended in brown tips.

"Oh, wow! A Clefairy! Those are really rare Pokémon!" Khoury exclaimed, pulling out his Pokédex hurriedly and scanning the creature with it. **"Clefairy, the Fairy Pokémon. This impish Pokémon is friendly and peaceful. It is believed to live inside Mt. Moon, although very few have ever been seen by humans."**

"Clefairy!" the Pokémon piped up, grinning at Khoury.

"You like my confidence?" Lyra repeated, looking up at the girl with a confused look on her face.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, of course! I just was walking by and I heard you two talking about the Gym Leader here," she explained. "I take it you two are planning on challenging the Gym Leader, then?"

"Oh! Don't worry about it! We don't mind," Lyra told her, referring to the girl's first statement. "I am. Khoury here is a Pokémon Breeder, so he doesn't challenge Gyms. Have you already challenged the Gym?" The pink-haired girl in front of Lyra paused, then started chuckling to herself.

"Of course not! It would be pretty silly to challenge myself to a battle, wouldn't it?" At her joke, instead of laughing, Lyra and Khoury gasped in unison, their eyebrows raising skyward and standing up off the bench they were sitting on.

"Wait a minute, _you're_ the Goldenrod Gym Leader?" Khoury exclaimed.

"Yup! I guess I probably should have said it sooner, huh?" the young woman asked rhetorically, scratching the back of her head like she was embarrassed. "The name's Whitney, by the way."

"Whitney! So you're the other Gym Leader Brock was talking about!" Khoury said aloud, pounding the side of his fist into his palm. "Do you remember him at all?"

"Oh, I'd have to see what he looks like. I've had a lot of challengers, and I can't remember all of them," Whitney replied, adding a giggle at the end of her sentence.

"Whitney, I'm Lyra. My friend here is Khoury. I'd really like to challenge your Gym to earn your Gym's Badge!" Rummaging through her backpack, which lay on the bench behind her, she took out her Badge Case and opened it up to show the Gym Leader. "Your Gym's Badge will be Badge number three!" Whitney bent down to look at the Badge Case at eye level, and grinned, pointing at the Zephyr Badge.

"Hey, that's the Violet Gym's Badge! If you beat Falkner, you _must_ be tough," Whitney commented, and Lyra put away her magenta case, placing it back in her pocket. "Although, the last Trainer that challenged me had Falkner's Badge too, but it still wasn't enough to beat me. Lyra, I accept your challenge." The brunette cheered, and Whitney grinned at her enthusiasm. "Let me just pick up my Pokémon from Nurse Joy, and we can walk to the Gym together!"

"Great!"

"Yeah! That way we don't have to find our way through this city," Khoury said, laughing nervously as the two younger Trainers collected their bags and stood up, following Whitney to the front desk.

"Yeah, it can be pretty hectic if you don't know your way around the city like I do!" the pink-haired Gym Leader agreed, and tapped the silver bell resting on top of the desk. "Lucky for you, I've lived here my whole life, so I know this place like the back of my hand, right Clefairy?" The pink Pokémon at her feet nodded and a moment later, Nurse Joy walked out, holding a plastic tray with two Poké Balls on it.

"Here you go, Whitney. Your Pokémon are in excellent condition," Joy told her, smiling warmly at her.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" Pocketing the two Poké Balls on the tray, Whitney turned to Lyra and nodded. "Ready?" Lyra nodded back, and the three, as well as Whitney's Clefairy, walked out of the large Pokémon Center, opening up the world of hustle and bustle. To the two's surprise, instead of going north where the Gym was, Whitney headed in the opposite direction.

"Um, Whitney, I think you're going the wrong way," Khoury muttered nervously, opening the map function on his PokéGear and pointing to it. "According to my PokéGear, the Gym is in the northern part of the city." However, the Gym Leader turned around and chuckled to herself.

"Don't worry; I know this city like the back of my hand, remember?" she reminded. "Besides, this is a shortcut I found a while ago. You can get to my Gym in a matter of minutes by using the Underground Path." Lyra and Khoury looked at each other before shrugging and following the girl, her Clefairy bouncing behind her as she walked.

"The Underground Path? Isn't that an underground shopping mall?" Khoury asked her as they reached a stairway that lead under the cement.

"Yeah, but I've found all sorts of paths to get around the city. And they're secret, so there won't be much people or traffic there!" Whitney answered, pausing for a moment and tapping her chin as they reached the bottom. "Now which store do we enter...?" While the girl decided, Lyra looked around, gasping slightly at the size of the underground mall. Lyra didn't even feel like she was underground; in fact, she felt like they just entered a huge mall with people everywhere. Both sides of the area were lined with department stores, and the area stretched out as far as the eye could see. "Oh, here we go! Follow me, and try not to get separated!" Whitney said, and she entered a clothing store that was a ways up from their location, but Lyra and Khoury followed behind silently. Clawing their way through aisles of clothes, they found a small doorway in the back with a staircase leading upstairs. Whitney grinned and bounded up the stairs, her Clefairy bouncing along in her footsteps. "And here we... are?" As the group stepped through the doorway at the top, they stopped in their tracks. They were up in the city all right, but they were in an alleyway, with garbage cans filled with trash to the brim lined along the edge.

"I really hope this isn't your Gym..." Khoury mumbled and Whitney argued with herself, cupping her chin in between her thumb and index finger.

"Like the back of your hand, huh?" Lyra asked, laughing nervously at the airhead Gym Leader.

"Okay, I think I know where we went wrong, but don't worry! I'll get us back on track!" Whitney exclaimed, turning around and going back down the steps, this time walking a little faster than she was before. Tracing their steps through the clothing store and back into the main area, they followed Whitney as she dashed up a ways, this time going into a coffee shop. The man behind the counter waved at them, and stared as they walked past and up the stairs, leading to the surface again. This time, they opened the door to see a group of grungy people, one of them holding a smoking pipe, sitting in a circle. "Whoops. Sorry for interrupting. Continue on!" Slamming the door back shut, Whitney ran downstairs, charging through the coffee shop as Lyra and Khoury jogged behind her, struggling to keep up.

"I thought you said you knew where you were going?" the brunette asked Whitney as they walked by the food court.

"I thought I did, too!" the Gym Leader responded, giving the two behind her an apologetic look. The group of three ran through the Underground Path until they found a bakery. Whitney gasped and dashed inside, almost plowing into Lyra and Khoury at the sudden turn. Stopping in their tracks, they turned and watched Whitney run through, then look at them and wave. "Hey! I think this is the path!"

"That's what you said the last two times, too..." Khoury muttered, breathing heavily and the two slowly ran to catch up to her. When they reached her, she grinned and hurried up the staircase, opening the door that was at the end and stepping out. Lyra and Khoury stumbled out as well, panting as if they just ran a marathon. "At least all that running in Sinnoh we did wasn't for nothing..."

"If I have to walk up another step _ever,_ I think my legs will fall off," Lyra panted.

"Okay, _this_ time I got it! Here we are, guys!" Whitney cried, holding her arms out in front of her. After they caught their breaths, the two young Trainers looked up at the building in front of them. It was a round, plain Gym that was white with a pink roof. The roof was dome-like, and over the entrance was in big letters 'GYM'. "Ready for our Gym Battle?" Once the exhaustion passed through, Lyra stood straight up and smirked confidently at the Gym Leader.

"You bet I am."

o 0 o

After going through the glass automatic doors, Whitney led them to the stadium in the middle of the Gym. It was like any other stadium, but it was quite large. All around the edges were spectator stands where others could watch the Gym Battle as well, but there was no one around. The only person inside the stadium was the referee, who was sitting against a wall and reading a book. When Whitney opened the door, she walked up to the referee and spoke to the girl, a turquoise-haired girl who wore her curly hair in two pigtails much like Whitney's. The two nodded and Whitney walked to the other side of the stadium, her white and red sneakers echoing every time her feet tapped against the floor.

"Good luck," Khoury whispered to Lyra as he sat down on a pink bench against the wall behind the Trainer's box where the challenger stood. Once Lyra placed her bag down next to Khoury and collected all her Poké Balls, she stepped out onto the challenger's side of the stadium. Once they were both set, the referee stepped up, holding two flags in her hands, one red and one green. She wore a red long sleeved sweater with a Poké Ball symbol on the breast of it, as well as black spandex shorts with a matching red rim at the bottoms.

"Lyra from New Bark Town challenges the Goldenrod City Gym Leader to a Pokémon Battle. A Plain Badge is at stake! This will be a three-on-three match," the referee announced, then looked at both Trainers. "All ready?"

"I'm ready to see what you got, Lyra! What about you?" Whitney called across the battlefield. It was almost as if she had become a completely different person from the girl they had ran around with in the Underground Path. She was smirking confidently, and she had her hands on her hips. Clefairy stood beside her, but not much changed about it, Lyra noted, as it stared happily at the battlefield.

"I've been ready since I got my Hive Badge!" Lyra replied, sending a smirk back to Whitney as well.

"Let the match begin!" the referee announced, waving both of the flags. Right away, Whitney looked down at the Pokémon by her feet and smiled.

"Clefairy, you're up first!" she said.

"Clefairy!" her Pokémon cried, jumping out onto the stadium. Seeing the Pokémon bounce out onto the stage, Lyra pulled out her own Poké Ball, knowing exactly which Pokémon she was going to use.

"Chikorita, let's go!" Lyra cried, swinging her arm and letting the Poké Ball go. The ball spun through the air and burst open, releasing her Chikorita, who jumped out of the light and landed onto the stage.

"Not a bad choice, Lyra, but I can take anything you can dish out. Clefairy, use Metronome!" Right away, Clefairy raised both of its arms, pointing its two fingers up and waving them back and forth, chanting along with the finger waves.

"What's Metronome?" Lyra asked, stunned when the attack didn't do anything.

"Lyra, careful! Metronome is an attack that uses any attack by random! It could come out to be anything!"

"Anything?" the brunette repeated, one of her eyebrows raising in surprise. "Chikorita, counterattack!"

"Not so fast, Lyra!" Whitney grinned, and suddenly, a bright light blue aura appeared around Clefairy's hands as the Metronome started to take effect. In a flash of light, Clefairy jumped forward, extending its kneecap. Chikorita gasped as Clefairy dashed towards it, but jumped out of the way of the attack. Not being able to stop itself, Clefairy cried and smashed its knee into the stadium where Chikorita stood, and it fell to the ground, holding its knee in pain.

"That was Hi Jump Kick!" Khoury exclaimed. "Since Chikorita dodged it, Clefairy got hurt instead!"

"Okay, good! So that was in my favor!" Lyra said. "Chikorita, use Razor Leaf!"

"Chika!" her Pokémon cried, jumping into the air and swinging its head, releasing a barrage of spinning razor-sharp leaves at Clefairy. The Fairy Pokémon screamed and jumped out of the way of the leaves, then started to cry and ran over to Whitney. Whitney frowned and kneeled down as her Clefairy jumped into her arms.

"Too scary, huh? It's okay, I understand," the Gym Leader told it, putting it down beside her as Lyra and Chikorita blinked at the pair in disbelief.

"Clefairy has forfeited the round!" the referee called, raising the green flag at Lyra's side. "Chikorita's the winner!" Chikorita turned around and looked at Lyra with a confused look on its face, but Lyra shrugged and grinned.

"Good job, I guess..." she muttered, and they turned back to look at Whitney as they awaited her next Pokémon. Taking a Poké Ball out from her pocket, she grinned and pressed the button to enlarge it.

"I choose... Nidorina!" Whitney cried, tossing the ball forward. In a flash of light, a light blue Pokémon that stood on four legs appeared on the stadium floor.

"Nido nido!" it called as the light around it faded, and Lyra took out her Pokédex to scan the creature. **"Nidorina, the Poison Pin Pokémon. The evolved form of the female Nidoran. It emits supersonic waves from its mouth to confuse its enemies."**

"Can you take it, Chikorita?" Lyra asked her Pokémon, and the Leaf Pokémon in front of her nodded.

"Nidorina, use your Poison Sting!" Whitney commanded, not skipping a beat with her Pokémon's orders. The Pokémon cried out and opened its mouth, releasing a flurry of white needles from its mouth at Lyra's Chikorita.

"Stop them as much as you can with Razor Leaf!" Lyra directed. Once again, Chikorita swung its head, releasing multiple leaves from the larger one on its head. The two attacks collided, and much to Lyra's surprise, the leaves managed to stop Nidorina's Poison Sting attack in its tracks, reflecting the white needles off and scattering them onto the ground.

"Use Tackle attack!" Whitney ordered, pointing forward at Chikorita, and Nidorina charged forward, its feet slapping against the ground as it ran.

"Counter with your Tackle attack, Chikorita!" the brunette commanded, and her Chikorita charged forward as well. As the two Pokémon reached each other, they leaped forward, slamming into each other. The two tried to knock each other to the floor, but jumped back and tried again, slamming into each other, their foreheads pressing against each other. "Chikorita, Razor Leaf attack!"

"Chika!" Chikorita called, leaning its head back and swinging it, the leaves automatically making contact before Nidorina had time to even react. The Poison Pin Pokémon rolled back and stopped, but managed to get up slowly.

"Once more! Razor Leaf!" Lyra repeated, pointing forward, and once again, Chikorita swung its head. This time, when the leaves hit Nidorina, it rolled back and didn't get back up. Seeing her Pokémon fainted, Whitney gasped and raised a hand, holding a Poké Ball in it.

"Nidorina, return!" she said, and a red laser shot out, sucking the light blue Pokémon back inside.

"Nidorina is unable to battle! Chikorita's the winner!" the referee announced, raising the green flag at Lyra once again.

"Yes! One more and we can get that Badge!" Lyra cheered. _But I can't believe how easy this match has been so far. Clefairy gave up after one attack and Nidorina went down after a handful of Razor Leaf attacks, which isn't even very effective._ Instead of cheering, however, Chikorita seemed to slump forward, but catch itself and shook its head. "Chikorita?"

"It looks like Chikorita's been Poisoned!" Khoury exclaimed behind her.

"But how? She blocked Nidorina's Poison Sting attack!" Across the stadium, Whitney smirked.

"That's because of Nidorina's Poison Point ability. Because Chikorita made physical contact with one of Nidorina's poison barbs, it injected poison into it," she explained, then pulled out another Poké Ball, grinning confidently. "Are you ready for my next Pokémon? I hope so! I choose... you!" With that, she tossed the Poké Ball forward, and it opened, releasing an exploding white light onto the battlefield. As the light faded, a large pink, black and tan Pokémon appeared.

"Miru miru!" it cried, a smile on its face. Lyra was taken aback by the creature, because despite its round body, it didn't look to be much of a threat. It was a cow-like Pokémon with two small white horns coming out of the top of its head. Its body was mostly covered in pink fur, but it had a black hood and spots around its head and back. Sticking out of the front of it were four udders.

"That's a... Miltank, right?" Lyra asked herself, but took out her Pokédex and scanned it to make sure she was right. "**Miltank, the Milk Cow Pokémon. It is widely known that drinking Miltank milk when you are young helps you grow up strong and healthy."** One of Lyra's eyebrows raised as she put away her Pokédex, staring at Whitney's Pokémon. "That doesn't really have anything to do with battling, but as long as I get my Badge, that's all that matters to me! Chikorita, Razor Leaf!" The Leaf Pokémon in front of her, who was already starting to heavily pant from the poison inside it, nodded its head and swung the leaf on top of it, releasing multiple razor-sharp leaves.

"Miltank, use Rollout attack!" Whitney countered, placing her hands on her hips as she waited.

"Miru miru!" her Pokémon called out, bounding forward and jumping into the air. It then curled itself into a ball and started rolling towards Chikorita at full force. The Razor Leaf attack hit it, but bounced right off its rolling body. Lyra gasped as the leaves fluttered helplessly to the ground, but couldn't say anything else before Miltank plowed into Chikorita, sending it rolling backwards as Miltank spun around the stage, curling around to get back to Whitney's side. Chikorita coughed up some dust it had inhaled, but shakily stood up.

"Go Miltank!" Whitney said as it spun by her, pointing at Chikorita, and the Milk Cow Pokémon continued down its path, curling around and charging at Chikorita. Luckily, Chikorita managed to jump to the side, but it looked dazed from the Poison.

"C'mon Chikorita! We just need to hit it hard! Use SolarBeam!" Lyra told it. Chikorita nodded slowly and raised the leaf on its head straight up, and golden particles started to form and gather into the leaf. However, Miltank was already curling around Whitney and Clefairy, and barreled at Chikorita, slamming into it with even more force than before. This time, Chikorita slid across the ground and didn't get back up.

"Chikorita is unable to continue!" the referee called, raising the red flag towards Whitney's side. "Miltank is the winner!" Lyra bit her lip nervously as she pulled out Chikorita's Poké Ball from her pocket, returning it without saying a word.

"You fought bravely despite being Poisoned, so I'm really proud of you, Chikorita," she said as she put away the ball. Looking up, she saw Whitney standing there, smirking with her hands on her hips like she had been when the match first started. In front of her, Miltank was jogging in place, kicking up dirt as it did. After a few moments of thinking to herself, she pulled out her next Poké Ball, pressing the button in the center to enlarge it. "Girafarig come on out!" On the battlefield, a bright flash of light was accompanied by a cry, and the Long Neck Pokémon appeared, its hooves clicking against the flooring. Seeing Lyra chose her Pokémon, Whitney continued her assault.

"Miltank, start things off with another Rollout attack!" she called, and her Pokémon obeyed, jumping into the air and curling itself into a ball again and zooming straight at Girafarig.

"Hit it with Psybeam!" Lyra commanded.

"Rin!" Girafarig cried, firing a multicolored beam of energy from in between the two horns on its head at Miltank. The attack hit the Pokémon, but it faded away, doing absolutely no damage at all. Simultaneously, Girafarig and Lyra gasped, their eyes widening in horror as Miltank barreled forward, slamming as hard as it could into Girafarig. The Long Neck Pokémon went skidding across the ground, but slumped in defeat.

"Girafarig's unable to continue! Miltank is the winner!" the referee judged, raising her red flag toward Whitney. Lyra couldn't believe how powerful Whitney's Miltank was. Compared to Clefairy and Nidorina, her Miltank was unbeatable.

_She lets others believe they're going to win an easy victory and relax with her first two Pokémon, and then brings out Miltank and overwhelms them with its power,_ Lyra thought, taking out her Poké Ball and recalling her Girafarig back inside. _I don't know who to pick! Marill won't be able to take much because of its small body, but Mareep was able to help me at the previous two Gyms. Maybe I'll bring him out again._ After arguing with herself silently, she took a deep breath and pulled out a Poké Ball, tossing it forward. "Mareep, it's your turn!" The Poké Ball burst open on the stadium, releasing the yellow sheep-like Pokémon from inside it.

"Reeep!" it bleated.

"Miltank!" Whitney said to her Pokémon, and the Milk Cow Pokémon charged forward, spinning even faster than before.

"Mareep, Thunderbolt!" Lyra cried. Sparks of electricity appeared around Mareep's ears, and it fired a powerful beam of yellow electricity from its body at Miltank, and the attack hit the target, but like with Girafarig's Psybeam, the attack surrounded Miltank, but broke away, leaving Miltank unharmed. This time, however, Lyra didn't even have time to gasp as Miltank plowed into Mareep. The Pokémon cried out in pain as it was shot backwards, slamming against the wall behind her and slumping. The blood ran out of Lyra's body, leaving it feeling cold as she saw her Pokémon slid down the wall. "Mareep! No!" The referee looked at Mareep, then looked straight out.

"Mareep is unable to-"

"Wait!" Khoury shouted, standing up as he yelled. Lyra whipped around as well, watching her Pokémon. It had suddenly began to glow white. "It's evolving!"

"W..what?" Lyra muttered, her eyes opening wide as Mareep's body grew larger, and the roundness that was its wool started to fade away. Finally, the glow faded, and in Mareep's place, a pink sheep-like Pokémon with white wool stood. "Mareep... evolved into Flaaffy!" the brunette exclaimed.

"Your Pokémon may have evolved, Lyra, but it's still no match for my Miltank!" Whitney said confidently, pointing at Flaaffy. "Miltank, attack!" The Milk Cow Pokémon, who pulled out of its Rollout attack, thinking it had won, pulled its body together and rolled towards Flaaffy at a high speed. The Pokémon, however, looked to be in pain, and it seemed to be holding something back. Lyra saw this in her Pokémon's face, and froze, unable to move as a look of confusion crossed her face.

"Here comes Miltank, Lyra! You better hurry and command Flaaffy, or he's going to get creamed!" Khoury exclaimed, pointing at the Pokémon barreling towards her Pokémon. Suddenly, Flaaffy opened its beady eyes and bleated out loudly, releasing a yellow electrical blast from its body at Miltank. Lyra felt the electricity zoom past her, and even the wind it produced almost knocked her to the ground. The electric attack shot forward, hitting Miltank with enough force to knock down a tree. The attack surrounded Miltank's body, and this time, it was knocked back. The Pokémon cried out as it was forced out of its ball-like shape and skidded across the stage. However, Flaaffy wasn't done and it leaped onto the battlefield, releasing another loud bleat before firing off another powerful electric blast at Miltank. The Pokémon cried out loudly before it slumped to the ground.

"Miltank is unable to battle! The winner of this round, and the match, is Lyra!" the referee announced, raising the flag towards Lyra. Whitney gasped and ran towards her Miltank.

"Milty!" she exclaimed, kneeling down to hold her Pokémon. "You fought well, Miltank. Now you can take a nice long rest." As Whitney returned her Pokémon, Lyra was staring at Flaaffy strangely. Her Pokémon was hunched over, its body shaking as if it was cold, and golden sparks of electricity kept jumping around it.

"Flaaffy?" the brunette asked, taking a step forward, but stopping in fear. Whitney stood up and walked over to Lyra, grinning happily.

"Wow, I'm impressed by Flaaffy's strength. It takes an awful lot to break Miltank out of its Rollout attack, and your Pokémon managed to do it!" she said, reaching into her pocket. "And, since you won the match, that mean you earned this." The Gym Leader held out her hand, and in the center of her palm, there was a diamond-shaped badge with a golden center and a silver outline. "The Plain Badge." Forgetting her Flaaffy for the moment, Lyra gasped with happiness, taking the Badge and holding it in between her fingers.

"My third Badge..." she muttered, but was suddenly interrupted by a loud cry behind Whitney. The two girls turned around and saw Flaaffy hold its arms up in the air. Suddenly, it released multiple beams of electricity from its body. The beams shot out like snakes, striking the lights in the ceiling above and the benches and stands in the seats surrounding the arena. Whitney and Lyra screamed and held their hands above their heads as the lights blew out and glass came raining down onto the stadium. Letting out another cry, Flaaffy fired another blast of electricity. The referee gasped and pulled a Poké Ball out from her pocket to stop it, but cried out as she was hit in the stomach by an electric attack, knocking her against the wall she was previously reading against when they walked in. "What's going on?" Lyra screamed, holding opening her eyes slowly and trying to watch Flaaffy as it cried out.

"I don't know, but I suggest you get Flaaffy to the Pokémon Center right away!" Whitney replied back. Lyra nodded and held out her Pokémon's Poké Ball, pointing it at her newly evolved Pokémon.

"Flaaffy, return!" she called, and the laser sucked the Pokémon back inside. The two finally lowered their arms, the stadium somewhat darkened from some of the lights above being hit by Flaaffy's attacks. When Flaaffy was totally inside Lyra's Poké Ball, the ball itself suddenly became surrounded in yellow sparks, and they zapped Lyra's hand as she held it. The brunette let out a yelp in pain jumping back and letting go of the Poké Ball in instinct, but gasped as the ball fell towards the floor. Luckily, before it could hit, Khoury jumped and slid across the stadium, catching the ball in his hands, and the two girls let out a sigh of relief. When she saw it was safe inside its Poké Ball, Whitney turned around and rushed over to help her Gym assistant.

"We should get to the Pokémon Center right away. Something's definitely not right with Flaaffy," Khoury commented, and Lyra nodded, looking down at his hand. It was covered in a white rubber glove that doctors would put on when they would see a patient. Following her gaze, Khoury reached into his pocket and pulled out the matching glove, handing it to her. "Here. Put this on. The rubber with cancel out the electricity around the ball." Doing as he said quietly and quickly, she put on the glove and he handed her the Poké Ball, and together, they raced out of the entrance of the Gym.

* * *

A bittersweet ending! While Lyra won her third Gym Badge and her Mareep evolved into a Flaaffy, it was cut short by Flaaffy. What happened to it, I wonder? :O

Ah, so nice to get back into the Gym Battles. It's so exciting as well! :D I loved writing this battle, it made me remember why I look forward to writing Gym Battles so much. XD There's so many possibilities to what can happen. Though that frickin' Miltank... that thing is evil. I wouldn't even know what to do against it. Actually, I would. I'd move onto another Gym. XD I hated how Ash beat Whitney in the anime, too. He used the ground to his advantage, something which couldn't have happened in hard wood flooring, but Whitney still gave him a Badge. It's like the producers were like 'Okay, she's a powerhouse, and I can't think of any way to beat her with Ash's current team. Let's just give him the Badge.' -_- If Ash had re-battled her in her Gym, he would have gotten raped again. But I digress.

I'd also like to remind you guys that now that we've moved on from the Johto Festival arc, I'm going to start updating every other week. And what better time to start updating every other week than on Treasured Resonance's second birthday! That's right, next update, Treasured Resonance will be turning two! God, I need to stop being lazy and write these chapters... But anyways, I hope you look forward to that. ^-^

Anyways, next chapter, we find out what caused Flaaffy to go crazy with its electricity. What happened to it, and how will Lyra react? Find out next chapter! Alright guys, that's it for me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thank you for reading/reviewing! See you guys next chapter!


	41. The Problem with Flaaffy

_Happy second birthday Treasured Resonance! And hopefully not many more to come~ Enjoy the chapter!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon or any of its characters, including Lyra and Khoury, but all OCs belong to their rightful owners.

* * *

**Chapter 38**

The Poké Ball sparked the whole time they ran to the Pokémon Center. Because of the huge city and not know their way around it like Whitney (or not as well), it took them about forty-five minutes to get there. Bursting through the front doors of the center, they rushed up to the front desk. Khoury rung the silver bell resting atop the counter with urgency. From out of the doors leading into the back of the center, Nurse Joy walked out, a confused look on her face. When she saw it was Lyra, she looked grimly at her. "You just came back from Whitney's Gym, didn't you?" she asked.

"Yes! Please, my Flaaffy needs help!" Lyra replied back urgently, holding up the Poké Ball. Nurse Joy smiled at the girl.

"Of course. I'll do everything in my power to try and get Flaaffy better," Nurse Joy responded, and when she reached out to grab the Poké Ball, it sparked with electricity, and a white zap clicked, shocking Nurse Joy's finger, and the pink-haired nurse flinched back with surprise pasted on her face. "What's going on?"

"Flaaffy's electricity is going out of control," Khoury explained to the nurse. "Even his electricity is coursing through the Poké Ball." Fiddling with the rubber glove on his hand, he tore it off and handed it forward. "Here, we have to use these to make sure Flaaffy didn't shock us." Nurse Joy's eyes darted from Lyra's Poké Ball, to Khoury's rubber glove, and she nodded, taking it and slipping it over her hand before taking Flaaffy's Poké Ball in her gloved hand.

"I'll do my best to help it," Joy assured them before disappearing through the back doors.

o 0 o

"C'mon Lyra, you should probably head to bed," Khoury suggested, holding his hand out to help her up. They had been waiting in the Pokémon Center's waiting room for hours, and Lyra hadn't even moved from her chair once since she sat down from it. Unlike her usual, happy self, she stared down at the floor anxiously. Her hands were shaking and shifting around and around, sometimes clasping together, sometimes holding her arms. Beside her, her hat was flattened against the chair. Lyra's brown eyes flickered up to her traveling companion, then to his hand.

"No, it's okay, Khoury. I'm going to wait up for Nurse Joy," she replied, looking away from his hand and turning back to her original position.

"Lyra, you haven't eaten anything since we've been back, and you've just stayed there all day. You need to get some rest," the midnight green-haired boy told her.

"Even if I did go to bed, I wouldn't be able to sleep, anyways." She took in a deep breath and gave him a pleading look. "I just want to be alone..." A slightly hurt look passed by Khoury's face, but he nodded.

_I can't even imagine what she feels like,_ Khoury thought to himself as he overlooked his friend. _If Croconaw or Gible – or even Rhyhorn – got seriously hurt, I'd probably be doing the same thing. _"Okay Lyra. You want me to get you anything before I go?" Before the brunette could response, the light with white markings on it in the shape of a syringe, turned off, and both Lyra and Khoury's heads whipped around as Nurse Joy stepped out from the doors. Immediately, Lyra jumped up, and the two Pokémon Trainers walked up to the nurse to see what she had to say.

"Nurse Joy... Is Flaaffy alright?" Lyra asked her. The pink-haired nurse hesitated, then took a deep breath and smiled lightly at the brunette.

"I managed to stabilize Flaaffy for the time being. I tried to absorb some of the excess electricity with some of the machines in the back, but as soon as I hooked them up to him, they overloaded and ended up exploding," she explained.

"What exactly is wrong with Flaaffy, Nurse Joy?" Khoury asked. "There's no way that that's normal." Nurse Joy shook her head, then looked at Lyra with something of a fierce determination.

"The reason that Flaaffy is releasing all this electricity is because he is overstressed. As a Pokémon Trainer, it is your job to train your Pokémon, but not to _over_ train them," Nurse Joy demanded, and both Lyra and Khoury gasped, and looked at each other.

"But how is that even possible?" Lyra muttered, then looked at the nurse. "Nurse Joy, we just came back from a travel around the world, and the only times that Mareep was let out of his Poké Ball was in Cinnabar Island, when we sat in the hot springs. Other than that, Mareep only battled once, and then again at the Goldenrod Gym just moments before." It was Nurse Joy's turn to gasp, and her eyebrows rose slightly, then shrank back down in confusion.

"But... that doesn't make any sense," she murmured. "My scans showed that Flaaffy recently evolved; is this correct?"

"Yeah, during my Gym Battle."

"Evolution is a strange and unique thing. Despite it happening every day, even the esteemed Professor Rowan of the Sinnoh region, who's research evolves around the subject, doesn't know everything there is to know about it. However, a lot of the time, if a Pokémon is overstressed, that stress will double, and take an ugly form. With your Flaaffy, it caused a huge build-up of electricity, and Flaaffy has to release it all at once. But if it does, it will severely damage a lot of people. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do. However, I have managed to sedate your Flaaffy, and it won't wake up until he is next sent out, but be sure it's in a location where there are no people, because he is instantly going to start discharging electricity." Lyra and Khoury nodded to show that they understood, and Nurse Joy looked at Lyra, her azure eyes full of apology. "Lyra, I'm sorry I snapped at you without knowing the full story." For once since they arrived at the Pokémon Center, Lyra smiled. It was light, but it was a smile.

"It's alright, Nurse Joy. I probably would have done the same thing if I was in your predicament," she replied, nodding her head. Releasing a loud yawn, she continued. "I think it's time for me to go to bed, though. We'll have to head out tomorrow if we want to get to a place that's free of people for Flaaffy to release his electricity." Khoury agreed, and after collecting their stuff, they went up to their room.

o 0 o

Awaking the next morning, Lyra and Khoury got dressed and changed quietly, but not somberly. Khoury could see that his friend was sad, but unlike before, she was hiding it with a smile on her face. Although it wasn't good, it wasn't bad, either, so Khoury said nothing to her mood, and after they collected their things, they headed downstairs.

"Good morning, Nurse Joy," the brunette Trainer greeted as they walked into the lobby. Nurse Joy smiled at the two Pokémon Trainers and went into the back, grabbing the Pokémon that they had left with her and bringing them out.

"Here you go, you two. Your Pokémon are both fighting fit and ready to go," the pink-haired nurse told them. After they pocketed the orbs, Nurse Joy sent another smile at Lyra. "In all the excitement yesterday, I never got the chance to say congratulations on defeating Whitney in your first battle. Most of my patients are the challengers of Whitney who lost against her fierce Miltank." Lyra's face fell at the compliment, and a shadow appeared over her face for just a moment, but she quickly shook it off and plastered a fake grin on her face.

"Thanks, Nurse Joy!" she thanked, bowing at her. The two paid for their room, and finally, they walked towards the glass doors leading out into the city, the pair opening for them upon sensing their feet. Right away, Khoury took out his PokéGear and started looking at the map function.

"Let's see... I think we should head north, towards Ecruteak City. There's a path up there where we can send out Flaaffy, and hope that no one gets hurt," Khoury suggested, putting away his PokéGear, but Lyra was already walking off somewhere. Seeing her walking off, Khoury called out and rushed after her. "H-hey Lyra! Where are you going?"

"We can go the way you suggested, Khoury, but I have somewhere to go before we head off," she answered him.

"Oh, okay. But where exactly do you have to go?"

"No time to explain. Let's just go. You'll see when we get there," Lyra replied hurriedly, starting to quicken her pace. At her response, the Pokémon Breeder let out a sigh, but followed after her though the hustle and bustle of the city.

o 0 o

The two walked through Goldenrod City for about an hour, hastily dodging people, Pokémon and cars alike. They walked up and down the streets, all the while, Khoury wondering where Lyra was going, and also wondering if she knew _how_ to get where she was going. After a long bit, however, they finally arrived at their destination: the Goldenrod Gym. "Here we are!" Lyra announced. Khoury looked up at the Gym, mystified, then back down at Lyra.

"The Goldenrod Gym?" Khoury muttered. "What are we doing here?" Instead of answering him, Lyra instead walked forward, walking up to the front doors. Beside the doors, there was a large paper handmade sign with 'CLOSED' written across it in red marker taped on the door, but Lyra hardly glanced at it as she walked in, causing Khoury to call out. "Lyra! It's closed! Wait!" Nonetheless, he followed her inside, and she walked to the Gym Arena.

Inside the arena, Whitney and her referee had brooms and dustpans, and were dusting away some of the broken glass on the floor from Flaaffy's attack. The lights above were replaced, and a pair of workers were placing a new glass casing over them. Upon hearing the doors open, both Whitney and her referee looked up, a slight look of surprise on each of their faces. When they saw who it was, they stopped sweeping and waited for Lyra and Khoury to approach them, a small smile on Whitney's face. "Well this is a surprise," Whitney grinned. "I didn't expect to see you back." Lyra returned her grin and looked around, stepping and feeling some glass shards crunch under her feet.

"How is everything?" she asked. Letting out a sigh of fatigue, Whitney looked at her referee.

"Well, we got the lights working, and there's really no real damage, aside from a few bruised ribs that Cathy got," she reported, then turned to Lyra. "I should be the one asking, though. How's your Flaaffy?"

"Nurse Joy doesn't know what's wrong with it, but it has an excess of electricity that needs to be released all at once," Khoury answered for Lyra. Since he was a Pokémon Breeder, he had to get used to saying medical descriptions.

"Whitney, I'm really sorry about yesterday," Lyra apologized, then turned and bowed to the referee. "I'm sorry about Flaaffy hitting you, too." Despite the apology, both Whitney and Cathy looked at each other and giggled.

"Lyra, we run a Pokémon Gym," Whitney explained, seeing the confused look on the Pokémon Trainer's face. "We're going to have some damage every once in a while. It's completely covered by the Gym's insurance."

"And I'm hit with an attack at least once a month," the referee added. However, Lyra didn't look convinced.

"Either way, I won by a fluke," she stated. "The only reason I won is because Flaaffy got a supercharge of electricity. And so..." Lyra reached into the back pocket of her overalls, slipping her fingers in and pulling out a silver and gold object. She held it forward for Whitney to take, and everyone gasped. It was the Plain Badge that Lyra had won yesterday.

"Lyra..." Khoury muttered somberly.

"I want to be able to win fair and square. It's obvious I wouldn't have won if Flaaffy didn't evolve. So I want to go out and train, and then, when I feel like I'm strong enough, I'll come back and challenge you again." Whitney stared at Lyra, then looked down at her Gym's Badge in the younger girl's hand. Taking a deep breath, she reached forward, but took Lyra's fingers and closed them over the Badge.

"No, keep it," she replied. "It may have been an accident, but it takes a lot to beat my Miltank, and it didn't take very long for Flaaffy to beat her." Whitney put her arms down and smiled at Lyra. "And besides, it took a lot of courage to come all the way back here to apologize and return your Badge. It's yours." Lyra's mouth was opened slightly, and her eyebrows pushed upwards as well from surprise. "Just do me a favor? Go all the way to the Pokémon League, okay?" The somber look on Lyra's face instantly evaporated, quickly replacing itself with a determined one.

"Sounds like a plan! Thank you, Whitney."

o 0 o

"Where is the next Gym, anyways?" Lyra asked Khoury. After the visit to the Gym, she seemed to be much better, but Khoury knew she was still thinking about Flaaffy.

"I think we should take Brock's advice and visit the Ecruteak City Gym," Khoury suggested, looking at the map of his PokéGear for reference.

"Sure!" Lyra replied. "I've been looking forward to battling Morty and that Gengar of his ever since we visited the Burned Tower."

"Then it's decided! That's where we'll go." As Khoury put away his PokéGear, there was a sudden burst of yellow and light blue electricity, and the pair of electric beams shot into the sky, causing both Lyra and Khoury to gasp out in shock. Giving each other a look, they both dashed forward to see what had caused the electricity. Following the electricity, they made their way through, pushing branches out of the way, keeping their eyes to the sky. They then stopped in a clearing as they burst through the trees and looked ahead of them. In the middle of the clearing, a young boy was battling against an older one.

The young boy looked about eight years old, and he wore a bright yellow shirt with blue jean shorts and a blue hat over his dark brown hair. His opponent was an older boy, with black-rimmed glasses, and his dark, almost black hair, blew in the wind created by the attacks. He wore a white button-up shirt and dark brown cargo pants. The two Trainers' eyes drifted off their battle and they looked at the pair that just came through the woods. Their Pokémon also stopped. Lyra noticed that it was two against one in this battle. On the younger boy's side, two yellow mouse-like Pokémon were battling, one with red marking and another with blue. On the older boy's side, a tree-like Pokémon was breathing heavily, but standing its ground.

"Hey, wow! Look! It's a Sudowoodo!" Khoury exclaimed, all worries leaving right away as he pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the Pokémon. **"Sudowoodo, the Imitation Pokémon. Disguised as a tree, it is the evolved form of Bonsly."**

"What about those Pokémon over there? I've never seen them before," Lyra muttered, pulling out her own Pokédex.

"Those are Plusle and Minun! They're really rare Pokémon!" Khoury answered excitedly, swinging his arm to scan the other Pokémon Lyra didn't scan. **"Plusle, the Cheering Pokémon. Plusle loves to cheer for its fellow Pokémon, and creates sparkling pom-poms by shorting out the electrical current released from its palms."**

**"Minun, the Cheering Pokémon. Minun and Plusle's electrical current promotes blood circulation and energizes their target." **After the Pokédexes finished their descriptions, Lyra and Khoury put them away and stepped further out into the clearing. "Sorry we interrupted. We saw the burst of electricity and we thought something had happened," Lyra apologized to the pair.

"Oh, that's alright," the older boy replied, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "We were just training, anyway."

"Just training?" Khoury repeated, staring at Plusle and Minun nervously.

"Wow! Could you really see Plusle and Minun's electricity from all the way on the path?" the boy asked excitedly, then looked down at his Pokémon. "You two are getting so strong!"

"Pruta Prusle!"

"Mi, mi!" Both Pokémon grinned at their Trainer's compliment and winked at him.

"Okay, Sudowoodo, why don't we take a break for now," the older boy said to his own Pokémon. With a nod, the Pokémon was recalled into its Poké Ball. Once the Poké Ball was placed firmly on his belt, the boy smiled at the two newcomers. "By the way, my name's Arthur. And that's my younger brother."

"My name's Sunny!" the boy added, flashing the pair a grin.

"I'm Khoury," the Pokémon Breeder introduced.

"And the name's Lyra. Hi!" Everyone exchanged a smile, but Arthur looked at Lyra curiously, his brown eyes looking at her with a strange, thoughtful look.

"Lyra..." he muttered, tapping his chin. "Are you the Lyra that my sisters have talked about? Maybe you know them. Their names are Tuscany and Frieda; do you know them?" Upon hearing their names, Lyra's mind instantly flashed a picture of the two Pokémon Trainers, and she giggled.

"Oh! So you two are related to Tuscany and Frieda, huh?" she asked. "Then that must mean you're related to Santos, too." Instantly, both pair of eyes lit up at the name of the Pokémon Trainer's name.

"You've met Santos?" Sunny asked.

"Where is he?" Lyra backed away a bit from their pair, laughing nervously to herself.

"Well, the last time we saw him was a while ago. At the Blackthorn Gym," she replied.

"He was strong, but he wasn't any match for Clair," Khoury added solemnly, and Lyra shot him a look. "Oh! B-but he put up a really good fight!" Both kids shot the others an apologetic look, but they had already shrugged off Khoury's comment.

"Hey, Lyra, you're a Pokémon Trainer, right? You must have all kinds of Pokémon! Do you have any Electric-types?" Sunny asked her, grinning widely at her to show a missing incisor tooth. "They're my favorites!"

"Yeah, I have an Electric-type!" Lyra announced, but her face fell instantly. "But... he's sick right now."

"Oh, really?" Arthur asked, cocking his head curiously. "My goal is to become a Pokémon Doctor, so I know a thing or two about sick Pokémon. Did you take it to Nurse Joy to get a diagnosis?"

"Yeah. She said that my Flaaffy has a lot of excess electricity built up, but if he releases it all at once, he may hurt someone," Lyra explained. "We were coming out here so we could have Flaaffy release his energy here, but I don't want to hurt any of the wild Pokémon that may be around here." As she said this, both Sunny and Arthur looked at each other and smiled.

"I got just the medicine for you then," the older of the two said, and he pulled out a Poké Ball. "Geodude, I choose you!" The Poké Ball flew through the air and burst open, releasing a gray rock-like Pokémon from it that looked like a head with a pair of arms attached to it.

"Geodude," it uttered.

"A Geodude?" Lyra repeated. "How is that going to help?"

"I get it!" Khoury exclaimed, tapping the side of his fist with the palm of his other hand. "Geodude is part Ground-type, so Electric-type attacks have no effect on it at all!"

"Exactly!" Arthur replied. "I use this method all the time with Sunny's Electric-type Pokémon to get their attacks stronger. And Geodude doesn't feel a thing; right buddy?"

"Geodude," his Pokémon replied to him, giving his Trainer a thumbs-up in approval.

"Wow, you would do that for me?" she asked excitedly.

"Of course! I've only heard good things about you from my sisters, so you must be nice," Arthur answered. "And besides, this will help me get a better study on both Electric-type Pokémon."

"Gee, thanks so much!" Lyra thanked, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a Poké Ball. She stared down at it for a bit, nervousness pecking at her chest, but she pressed the button in the center and tossed it forward. Instantly, Lyra and Khoury stepped backwards to make room, and seeing the pair, Sunny and Arthur, as well as Sunny's Plusle and Minun, did the same. The Poké Ball burst open, and in a waterfall of white light, Lyra's Flaaffy appeared. At first, nothing happened, and Flaaffy simply stood in place with its head down and eyes closed. Just as Lyra opened her mouth to say something, a burst of electricity shot out of its body. Flaaffy cried out as the electricity shot out in arrows around itself. One shot whipped out, and Lyra cried out and stepped back as it bounded for her, and it hit the ground where her feet had been moments before if she hadn't moved them. "Flaaffy, aim your electricity towards Geodude!" the brunette cried, but it seemed as though Flaaffy didn't hear her, and it continued to shoot out electricity all over.

"It doesn't look like he can hear Lyra!" Khoury shouted.

"Don't worry!" Arthur told him. "Geodude, grab onto Flaaffy!" Nodding at its Trainer's command, Geodude floated into the air and shot forward, wrapping its long arms around Flaaffy's neck. Flaaffy's eyes opened with fright, and the electricity suddenly stopped shooting off its body, instead surrounding Flaaffy and Geodude. "Flaaffy, release your electricity! All of it! Don't be scared about hurting Geodude!" Flaaffy looked up at Arthur, then back at Lyra, who smiled and nodded at it. Suddenly, Flaaffy closed its eyes and released a shrill bleat.

"Flaaaaaaaaa!" it cried, and the electricity around it started to glow even brighter, and soon enough, it was so bright that everyone had to look away. After a bit, however, the light disappeared, and when Lyra opened her eyes, Flaaffy was standing on the ground, breathing heavily. In front of it, Geodude was also on the ground, its body blackened and charred.

"Geodude!" Arthur exclaimed, bounding up to his Pokémon and kneeling down to see if it was alright. Picking it up, he inspected it, and his face paled instantly. "H-he's knocked out! I don't believe it!"

"N-no way!" Sunny gasped.

"Is that even possible?" Khoury asked, going up to inspect Geodude as well.

"Well, I _have_ heard of some cases where Electric-type attacks have been able to knock out Ground-types when they're really powerful or have a weak point,"Arthur explained. "I didn't think I would ever see it, though." Pointing the Poké Ball in his hand at Geodude, he held it forward and a red laser shot out at it, returning it with a few worried and apologetic words. Meanwhile, Lyra was looking at her Flaaffy with her brown eyes filled with worry. The two were completely still for the longest time-what felt like forever for Lyra-but finally, Flaaffy raised its pink head and looked around like it was seeing the world in a whole new light.

"Flaaffy..?" Lyra muttered to her Pokémon. Recognizing her voice, Flaaffy whipped around, a huge smile forming on its face. "Flaaffy! You're all better!"

"Flaa!" her Pokémon exclaimed, running up to her and jumping into her arms. Lyra and Flaaffy giggled and wrapped their arms around each other.

"I'm so happy!" the Pokémon Trainer said, and pulled back. "I'm sorry if I ever stressed you out or anything." However, Flaaffy shook its head back and forth in response and smiled at her. "Good." Khoury and Arthur also stood up and watched the reunion with a smile on their face, but Sunny's eyebrows were pulled together in thought as he watched.

"Hey, Arthur..." the younger boy brought up. "That Flaaffy isn't Shiny, is it?" Arthur seemed taken aback by his younger brother's comment and looked at Flaaffy as Lyra put it down.

"No, I don't believe so. If it was a Shiny Pokémon, the orb at the end of its tail would be green." Khoury and Lyra looked down at the orb at the end of Flaaffy's tail, seeing that it was blue, like most Flaaffy. "Why do you ask?"

"Well..." Sunny muttered, and pulled out a Poké Ball of his own from his pocket and tossed it forward. In a burst of light, his own Flaaffy appeared before him, and right away, Lyra noticed a difference. Unlike Sunny's Flaaffy, Lyra's Flaaffy was much more lighter in color. Not by a lot, but it was definitely a couple shades lighter.

"How strange..." Arthur said thoughtfully. "Lyra's Flaaffy's a shade lighter than Sunny's."

"It isn't rare for a Pokémon to have a different shade than others," Khoury explained. "It's how other Pokémon can distinguish others from each other. Like humans, no two Pokémon are exactly alike."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sunny replied, smiling and nodding.

"Well, we should head out," Lyra said to Khoury, and he nodded in agreement. "Thanks so much for helping us with Flaaffy. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Of course; not a problem!" Arthur responded, bowing slightly. "If anything, I should thank _you._ You and your Flaaffy have given me a lot to think about."

"Me too! My Pokémon have never knocked out Geodude with one electric attack!" Sunny added, giggling.

"That's good," Lyra answered, laughing to herself. "See you guys later! And tell your sisters Lyra says 'hi'!"

"Will do!" Arthur and Sunny said together, and the two started walking away, with Flaaffy at Lyra's feet, all three of them waving at Arthur, Sunny, Plusle and Minun. And right away, Khoury noticed that all the sadness in Lyra's eyes had disappeared completely as she turned and laughed happily at her Flaaffy.

* * *

Okay, well, it's a day late, but I got the chapter up! Sorry about that! Anyways, a lot of you guys figured that it was PokéRus. That would have actually been a good idea, but I wouldn't even know where to begin with that. But again, we're left with more questions than answers about Flaaffy. Don't worry; I've got stuff planned for him in the future.

Also, happy second birthday Treasured Resonance! I predict it will have one more or so before I finish this story, haha. But here's hoping to not have another one! I also want to thank all the reviewers. Your kind words are what help me write the next chapters, so thank you very much! You're all amazing people~

So, next chapter, Lyra and Khoury get to Ecruteak City and Lyra hopes to keep her winning streak alive and earn her fourth Badge by challenging Morty. But will other plans keep her from going? Find out next chapter. Okay, that's it this time! Happy 2nd birthday, Treasured Resonance! Thank you for reading/reviewing, and see you next time!


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